The southwest experienced some unusual winter weather this year, with record rainfall, record snowfall and now rare waterfalls.
Snow is still melting off the mountains, leaving a beautiful water wonderland at Gunlock State Park.
It was a great year for Utah's snowpack -- most of the state 200 to 400 percent above average.
In southwest Utah, the melted snow is running into the Santa Clara River, and the overflowing water causes waterfalls like the ones at Gunlock State Park.
"It takes a while for that water to get off the mountain and down to this point with 80-degree temperatures last weekend, we will be seeing a lot higher flow and we'll continue to see higher flows as we get through the nineties," Jon Allred, the park manager, said.
This is only the fourth time in 15 years the water has been strong enough to create the falls, including in 2008, 2019 and 2020.
"There's no way to guarantee snowpack. It's kind of just one of those things that happens," Allred said. "We can see years where it happens multiple times like 2019 and 2020, or we can see years where it takes multiple years off."
During the pandemic in 2020, the Utah State Parks office modified the flow to stop the water because there were too many people to properly social distance.
More visitors than usual have been visiting the park this year since the falls emerged around early March. Allred says social media has played a role in drawing people to the area.
"I've been here a few times before in the past couple of years, and this is the first time I've seen it, so it's pretty cool," said Alani Havili, visiting from Salt Lake City.
One couple from the area has seen the waterfalls before but not like this.
"I like to keep it kind of a hidden secret. I want people to be able to see, but yet it's nice to have it kind of special and not known," said Shelley and Mike Feuerstein. "Last year we came up and there wasn't anything to see... This year it's pretty crowded."
The park expects the waterfalls to last a few more weeks, if not months, but it all depends on how quickly the snow melts, which also presents a flood risk. More north, the Salt Lake City area has been getting rain, snow and flooding through spring.
At Gunlock State Park, the trails have changed because more foot traffic is loosening the sand. Allred urges people to be aware of the changing trails and to be cautious around swift waters.
Only two people have broken their ankles and no one has died this season.
What was could have been temporary, what is could be transitional, what tomorrow looks like
Anyone noticed the hills in the background, correct me if I'm wrong but isn't there a historical water line carved high up into the hillside, maybe waters might be heading there again
Winternights3 That area ^ is where we currently live. The geology around here is hilariously varied; ancient ocean beds, volcanic eruption boulder fields, ancient river silt deposits, all stacked on top of each other, and frequently wildly tilted from earthquakes and upthrust folding. That line you see at .35 time mark is one of those layerings. Where we live is at 2300' elevation, relatively speaking it's high desert riparian because of the Virgin and Santa Clara Rivers. The Gunlock area is adjacent to Pine Valley Mountain, which has a summit of 10,365'. Lots of snow in the winter, especially a winter like this one.
Reminds me of Chatsworth House and the artificial waterfall created there. Each step is a different height and none the same height therefore produces a distinct difference in sound. People used to understand frequency and itโs health effects. [Link]
Most Subaru owners are tree-hugging libtards that will welcome such technology with open eyes ๐ besides, based on a long time observation, I rank...
What was could have been temporary, what is could be transitional, what tomorrow looks like
Anyone noticed the hills in the background, correct me if I'm wrong but isn't there a historical water line carved high up into the hillside, maybe waters might be heading there again