The forecast back in mid-January called for a change in the weather pattern somewhere around the third week in February.

And on Monday, Feb. 19, the start of the third full week in February, it changed ... and it snowed and it snowed.

Nearly 120 inches of snow have fallen in an 11-day period, reported Jay Burke, director of marketing at Solitude.

New on the Ski Utah Web site is a feature that highlights in green those Utah resorts getting new snow accumulations of 12 inches or more overnight.

On Monday, seven of the 13 resorts hit the green.

"It's a tricky balance," said Nathan Rafferty, president of Ski Utah. "We know we're going to get the snow, here in Utah, it's just a matter of when."

This year it was slow coming. Back in mid-January, Alta had received only 173 total inches of snow. Now, 30 days later, the total depth is nearly 300 inches.

While Utah's inches of snow have not measured up to snow depths the past two seasons — snow depths at Alta for 2004-05 were well over 650 inches and over 600 inches for 2005-06 — it appears the number of skiers visiting Utah's slopes has remained at or near the record levels hit last season.

Most of the resorts contacted report comparable numbers through the holidays and continuing through January and February.

Erin Grady, communications manager at Deer Valley, said recent skier counts show the resort is on track for another record year.

"Two good snow years have helped. Also, skiers are discovering just how accessible Utah ski resorts are," she noted.

"And it looks, now, like our skier counts will remain strong through the end of the season."

Connie Marshall, public relations director at Alta, reported that out-of-state visitations are up, "and with the recent snow we're starting to see the locals."

While destination ski business is up at most resorts, the number of locals skiing has been down.

"Local skiers," noted Rafferty, "have enjoyed two incredible snow years and this year were waiting for those same conditions. The latest storms produced those conditions and now we're starting to see the local skiers."

Krista Parry, marketing director for Park City Mountain Resort, said 2006-07 is shaping up to be another strong ski season.

"We've had strong holiday business and March is looking very strong. We're seeing a lot of destination skiers and a lot of families."

Burke also noted that destination bookings at Solitude have been up this year.

"We're above where we were a year ago and it looks now that we'll have a strong finish."

According to Pete Wilensky, lead forecaster for the National Weather Service, the stormy weather pattern experienced this week will end on Friday and a high pressure will move into the area resulting in warmer daytime temperatures.

He also noted that this week's storm pattern is not unusual but it is likely to be the last of the really cold weather.

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