Runoff water runs down Devil’s Ditch in Tooele on Friday. 
Runoff water runs down 7th Street in Tooele on Friday. 
(No Ratings Yet)
Loading...Warm weather and rain last week brought an end to Tooele’s cold snap. Small rivers formed in Tooele City’s gutters as snowmelt from the valley floor started running downhill towards the Great Salt Lake.
Cities and Tooele County prepared for floods with stockpiles of sand and bags available to the public.
While warm weather did away with the record snowfall in the valley, cold weather storms continued to pile up snowpack in mountains above the valley.
The snow water equivalent in the mountains above the valley sits at 201% of the 30-year median for March 14.
There was 27.9 inches of snow water equivalent in the mountains above Tooele and Rush valleys on March 14, 2023 compared to a median peak of 15.9 inches that usually is not reached until April 5.
With a little less than four weeks left, the basin’s snow water equivalent is approaching the all-time high peak of 30.1 inches set on April 18, 1998.
Tooele County’s reservoirs are starting to receive some runoff. The Settlement Canyon Reservoir rose from 35.3% capacity on Feb. 14 to 37.6% capacity on March 14. The median capacity for March 14 is 66%.
The Grantsville Reservoir rose from 39.4% capacity on Feb. 14 to 44.0% capacity on March 14. The median capacity for March 14 is 58.8%.
With all that snow still in the mountains some people are concerned about potential flooding. See the related story on page A-15 for information about flood preparations.
