November very dry, very mild

Very dry and mild is how weather forecasters described the month of November in northern Utah. A revised description of December so far would be very dry and cold.

The dry spell began about two weeks ago. The last time Salt Lake City received moisture was Nov. 22. But things could change today.

The National Weather Service predicts a 30 percent chance of snow today and a 40 percent chance tonight for the capital city. There's also a chance for snow Sunday through Thursday.

The projected high temperature today is a chilly 31 degrees, followed by a drop to 26 degrees for the high Sunday. Temperatures may rise to the high 30s by next Wednesday night, causing some rain instead of snow to fall.

This week, temperatures were 10 degrees below normal in some areas, and on Thursday, some new low temperature records for Dec. 3 were set:

Bountiful was 13 degrees, dipping two degrees below the old record set in 2006.

Alpine dipped to 10 degrees to tie its all-time low for that day.

Alta also tied its record at 1 degree.

Laketown was minus 2 degrees.

All-time low daytime temperature records for Dec. 3 were also set in Alta (13 degrees), Laketown (22), Coalville (28) and Alpine (28).

November yielded just 0.20 inches of moisture at Salt Lake City International Airport, only 14 percent of the normal amount of 1.4 inches. Temperatures for the month were 1.4 degrees above normal.

KSL meteorologist Dan Pope said November 2009 was likely one of the five driest Novembers on record. (The driest ever November was 1939, with just 0.01 of an inch of moisture.)

Richfield was one of Utah's wettest places during the month, with 0.72 inches of moisture, or 111 percent of normal.

On the opposite end, Castle Dale reported zero moisture during November and Capitol Reef only a trace.

Pope said September, October and November were all drier than normal.

Southern Utah around St. George is already in a moderate drought, and the Arizona Strip (Kanab to Lake Powell) is experiencing a severe drought, Pope said.

"Last year, we went dry until about the second week of December, and then it snowed a lot up to around Christmas," Pope said.

As for overall moisture this winter, "the Wasatch Mountains and the western Uinta Mountains may fare close to normal winter snowfall," he said. "Otherwise, I think the pattern we have been seeing will continue into the winter months — staying drier and warmer than normal."

e-mail: lynn@desnews.com