Watering gardens in Salt Lake City, Utah

Water today

What fell today was not enough to reach the roots.

Updated this morning
Today

Has it rained enough in Salt Lake City?

Rain soaked in today, and the ground has taken it.

Salt Lake City has had 43mm of rain in the last 30 days. A normal October here brings 44.7mm, so the ground is roughly where it should be for the time of year.

Rain reaching the roots · 14 days
17 OctToday
Thirty years

Rain in Salt Lake City through a normal year

Across a normal year Salt Lake City gets about 508.8mm of rain, most of it in April (69.2mm) and least in July (8.2mm).

A normal October in Salt Lake City has rain on 9 days. Only 6 of them bring enough to reach a root.

That makes Salt Lake City one of the drier places this site covers in the United States in October — 24th of 30, against Seattle at the wet end (131.5mm) and Las Vegas at the dry end (8.4mm).

JFMAprMJJulASOND
Average rainfall by month, 1995–2024
What it means

What that means for what you grow

  • Pots and hanging basketsWorst hit, and first to suffer. Very little soil, fully exposed, and nothing to fall back on — in this weather they can empty in a day.
  • Salad and leafy vegShallow-rooted and quick to bolt once they run dry. First priority of anything in the ground.
  • Beds and bordersA long soak that reaches the roots is worth more than a daily sprinkle, which only wets the surface and is gone by lunchtime.
  • Established shrubs and treesFine as they are. They draw from far deeper than a dry spell reaches.