The Winter of 1948-1949.

At the very start of January, three days of consistent snow created snowdrifts six to ten feet tall. The blizzard broke windows, damaged roofs and temperatures dropped below zero.  Snow plow crews struggled to handle all the snow. In fact, Sardine Canyon (near Brigham City/Cache Valley) remained closed for a month and dozens of families near the Canyon Rim had to be dug out of their homes. Surprisingly, this was only the start of the storms.

Two weeks later (just when Utahn’s were starting to recover from the first storm) another two more blizzards.  These storms were far worse. Temperatures dropped to -25 degrees and snow drifts in Millard county were as tall as telephone wires. The Salt Lake Airport reported had 23+ inches of snow on the runways.  All roads north of Brigham City closed down. A few people spent 36 hours stranded in a car waiting for a snowplow rescue. Trains and planes were slowed down for days and coal companies couldn’t deliver their precious energy source, causing Utah’s Power and Light to close down their generators.

Later that year the snow didn’t let up.  It even snowed 11 days in March with occasional storms continuing on into April.

Strangely enough, this actually wasn’t the snowiest winter on record! This winter actually placed third! Utah’s Division of State History interviewed Mark Eubanks and discovered that the winter of 1992-1993 actually holds that award for the most snow in one year’s span — a total of 80.4 inches.