Utah
Utah has a dry, semi-arid to arid climate, although its many mountains have large, wide, differences of climates, with the highest points in the Uinta Mountains being above the tree line. The dry weather results from the state lying mostly in the rain shadow of the Sierra Nevada in California. The eastern half of the state is in the rain shadow of the Wasatch Mountains. The main source of rain for the state is the Pacific Ocean, with the state normally lying in the path of large Pacific storms from mid-October through April, although northern Utah often sees these large storms earlier and later. In summer, the state, normally southern and eastern Utah, is in the path of monsoon  from the Gulf of California. Most of the lowland areas get less than 12 inches (300 mm) of rain a year. The Great Salt Lake Desert is the driest area of the state, with less than 5 inches (125 mm). Snowfall is common in all but the far southern valleys. Although St. George only gets about 3 inches (7.5 cm) per year, Salt Lake City sees about 60 inches (150 cm), enhanced by the lake-effect snow from the Great Salt Lake, which increases snowfall totals to the south, southeast, and east of the lake. Some areas of the Wasatch Range in the path of the lake-effect get up to 700 inches (1,770 cm) per year. The  dry, fluffy, snow led Utah's ski industry to get the slogan "the Greatest Snow on Earth" in the 1980s. In the winter, temperature  are a phenomenon across Utah's low basins and valleys, leading to thick humidity and fog that can sometimes last for weeks at a time, normally in the Uintah Basin.