Alta Snowfall Totals & Accumulation Averages

This page pulls together information on when, how much and how often Alta, Utah has snow.

There are data and descriptions here of how many days it snows and the total amount of snowfall that Alta usually gets. There are also monthly and yearly counts of the days that the ski resort normally has heavy snowstorms. Plus there's information on when Alta can expect the first and last snowfalls of the season.

The first set of monthly snow totals are averages for 2010 to 2019. All the other numbers are 30-year averages based on weather data gathered from 1991 to 2020 at the Alta ski area.

How Often it Snows in Alta

The next two tables list monthly and yearly totals for amount of snow and how many days it snows at least 0.1 inches (0.25 centimetres).

10-year snowfall averages at Alta, 2010 to 2019
Days   Inches Centi­metres
10.9 January 66.1 167.9
11.6 February 66.5 169.0
11.6 March 62.4 158.4
9.7 April 61.4 155.9
4.0 May 19.6 49.9
0.4 June 3.0 7.7
1.0 September 4.1 10.4
3.5 October 16.5 41.8
8.3 November 45.7 116.0
12.0 December 67.3 171.0
71.3 Year 396.3 1006.5
30-year snowfall averages at Alta, 1991 to 2020
Days   Inches Centi­metres
13.6 January 74.7 189.7
13.1 February 81.2 206.2
12.2 March 71.4 181.4
10.0 April 50.0 127.0
4.9 May 15.9 40.4
1.3 June 4.4 11.2
0.8 September 2.6 6.6
5.1 October 24.4 62.0
9.7 November 53.9 136.9
14.0 December 79.8 202.7
84.7 Year 458.3 1164.1

These averages don't show how much the snowfall in Alta varies from year to year.

In December, for instance, one in four years totals 91.4 or more inches of snow. Another 25 percent of years receive 65 inchesor less for the month.

Similarly in January, fresh snowfall in the heaviest years amounts to over 95.2 inches, while the lightest years get 44 inches or less.

New snow for February ranges from over 103 inches in heavy snowfall years to 65.5 inches at most in light years.

When Alta Has Its First & Last Snowfalls

The first snowfall of autumn for Alta usually arrives in October, although every few years September gets some snow.

The season's last snowfall typically happens in May. About once every four years June also receives new snow.

Alta normally gets no new snow during July and August.

How Many Snowstorms Alta Gets

Most days of snowfall at Alta result in at least an inch of fresh snow left on the ground. For 56 days a year on average, the amount of new snow totals three inches or more.

Snowstorms of over five inches a day normally occur 37 times annually at the ski area. Typically 15 of these storms are major blizzards that dump ten inches or more in one day. Snow events this severe can descend on Alta anytime except in July and August.

Number of days per month and year on average in Alta with a total snowfall of at least 1, 3, 5 or 10 inches
1 inch
2.5 cm
3 inches
7.6 cm
  5 inches
12.7 cm
10 inches
25.4 cm
12.7 8.9 January 6.2 2.8
12.2 9.2 February 5.9 2.3
11.5 7.9 March 5.5 2.2
9.7 7.0 April 4.5 2.1
4.2 2.7 May 1.6 0.5
1.2 0.8 June 0.4 0.1
0.7 0.5 September 0.3 0.1
4.7 3.3 October 2.4 0.9
9.2 6.4 November 4.3 1.9
12.9 8.9 December 6.0 2.2
79.0 55.6 Year 37.1 15.1
References

Jay Lawrimore, Ron Ray, Scott Applequist, Bryant Korzeniewski, Matthew Menne. 2016. Global Summary of the Month and Year, Version 1.0. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information.

NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI). Climate Normals.

Utah Snowfall
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