Utah ski resorts see first snow of the season

Cold weather brings in the first mountain snow in Little Cottonwood Canyon near Alta on Monday.

Cold weather brings in the first mountain snow in Little Cottonwood Canyon near Alta on Monday. (Lukas Katilius, Deseret News)


Save Story

Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes

KEY TAKEAWAYS
  • Utah ski resorts received their first snowfall of the season this weekend.
  • A storm will bring colder air and widespread snow to Utah ski areas.
  • Super El Niño could affect snowfall; resorts anticipate a big 2026-27 season.

SALT LAKE CITY — Storms that wreaked havoc across Utah this past weekend dusted ski resorts in the state with the first snowfall of the season.

And there could be more on the way.

"Now the focus shifts to a storm tracking across the central Rockies, which will bring colder air and the first widespread snow of the season to many ski areas in Utah and Colorado," according to OpenSnow meteorologist Alan Smith.

Remnants of the tropical Cyclone Rachel dumped tons of rain in the Beehive State. A second colder storm is moving through the state that will lead to lower snow levels and significant snowfall above 8,000 feet.

"Snow levels will dip to around mid-mountain at Snowbird, Alta, and other Wasatch ski resorts during the day on Monday, before lowering to near the base areas on Monday night and Tuesday morning," Smith wrote.

"As the heaviest part of the storm tapers off, additional showers can be expected on Wednesday, with snow levels rising to mid-mountain."

That's good news for resorts that set November opening dates, weather permitting.

"We are only 39 days away from our target opening day on Nov. 20. Fresh snow atop Jupiter Peak offers an exciting glimpse of what's to come this season," per Park City Mountain.

The predicted Super El Niño has anticipation of a big winter running high. But meteorologists call the rare weather pattern a wild card when it comes to snow. Past Super El Niños have resulted in both above-average and below-average snowfall.

Resorts, though, are taking every opportunity to hype the 2026-27 season after last year's dismal snowpack. Here's a smattering of the flakes flying at Utah ski and snowboard areas:

"IT IS SNOWING ❄️ Snow has touched down in Big Cottonwood Canyon and it looks like more is inbounds tomorrow. Due to the weather we will continue to be closed today for mountain biking, disc golf and scenic lift rides," Brighton Resort posted on X .

Resorts in Little Cottonwood Canyon also received their first measurable snowfall of the season.

The Key Takeaways for this article were generated with the assistance of large language models and reviewed by our editorial team. The article, itself, is solely human-written.

Related stories

Most recent Utah weather stories

Related topics

Show Us Your

Perspective

Enter your photo for the Snapshot of the Week

Outdoor photo submissions
Submit Photo Now

KSL Weather Forecast

KSL Weather Forecast
Play button