Salt Lake City: Livability in the 21st Century

Throughout the winter months the jet stream pushes storms from the Pacific Ocean across the Nevada desert into Utah where
they slam into the Wasatch Mountains and release snow. What’s different about this weather pattern in Utah is a phenomenon
known as lake effect: just before meeting the mountains, the storms are fortified by the Great Salt Lake, which due to its salinity
never freezes, creating snowfall more prolific than other mountain locales. In fact, more than 500 inches of snow accumulate
in the Wasatch Mountains every winter, about 30 percent more than most other sections of the Rockies. Multiple river drainages
provide 60 percent of the drinking and irrigation water used by the more than one million Salt Lake Valley residents.
Eighty-five percent of Utah’s population now lives along the Wasatch Range in a series of valleys known as the Wasatch Front.
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Opposite: Utah’s indigenous people, the Ute Indian Tribe, were made up of nomadic
bands that maintained close associations with other neighboring Native American groups.
“Wasatch” is the Ute language word for “mountain pass” or “low pass over a high range.”
This page: Alta and Snowbird in Little Cottonwood Canyon, and Brighton and Solitude in
Big Cottonwood Canyon, are among the snowiest ski and snowboard resorts in the Lower 48.
All average 500 inches of snow per year, with the exception of Alta, which averages 520 inches per year.
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