Moon Lake Project
Moon Lake is a high mountain reservoir on the south slope of the High Uintas in Duchesne County, Utah. Recreation management is under the jurisdiction of the U.S. Forest Service, as the lake is part of the Ashley National Forest.
In 1938, the United States Bureau of Reclamation completed the earthen Moon Lake Dam on the Lake Fork River to expand the size of the existing natural lake for irrigation. The dam has a height of 98 feet, and the expanded reservoir a capacity of 49,500 acre-feet.
Climate
| Climate data for Moon Lake, Utah, 1991–2020 normals: 8125ft (2477m) | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Mean daily maximum °F (°C) | 30.9 (−0.6) |
34.1 (1.2) |
40.6 (4.8) |
49.1 (9.5) |
58.6 (14.8) |
69.5 (20.8) |
77.3 (25.2) |
77.5 (25.3) |
67.5 (19.7) |
55.5 (13.1) |
40.1 (4.5) |
30.6 (−0.8) |
52.6 (11.5) |
| Daily mean °F (°C) | 18.9 (−7.3) |
23.1 (−4.9) |
29.2 (−1.6) |
36.3 (2.4) |
46.1 (7.8) |
54.6 (12.6) |
62.9 (17.2) |
63.5 (17.5) |
54.1 (12.3) |
43.3 (6.3) |
31.0 (−0.6) |
21.1 (−6.1) |
40.3 (4.6) |
| Mean daily minimum °F (°C) | 6.9 (−13.9) |
12.0 (−11.1) |
17.8 (−7.9) |
23.5 (−4.7) |
33.5 (0.8) |
39.7 (4.3) |
48.4 (9.1) |
49.4 (9.7) |
40.7 (4.8) |
31.1 (−0.5) |
21.9 (−5.6) |
11.5 (−11.4) |
28.0 (−2.2) |
| Source: NOAA | |||||||||||||
Lakefork #1 is a SNOTEL weather station above Moon Lake, near the peak of Lake Fork Mountain, at an elevation of 10415 feet (3174 m).
| Climate data for Lakefork #1, Utah, 2006–2020 normals: 10415ft (3174m) | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °F (°C) | 56 (13) |
54 (12) |
57 (14) |
62 (17) |
66 (19) |
75 (24) |
75 (24) |
76 (24) |
75 (24) |
66 (19) |
57 (14) |
54 (12) |
76 (24) |
| Mean maximum °F (°C) | 49.0 (9.4) |
47.1 (8.4) |
50.3 (10.2) |
55.8 (13.2) |
61.4 (16.3) |
69.8 (21.0) |
72.9 (22.7) |
70.9 (21.6) |
67.7 (19.8) |
58.8 (14.9) |
53.2 (11.8) |
47.8 (8.8) |
73.0 (22.8) |
| Mean daily maximum °F (°C) | 33.9 (1.1) |
32.7 (0.4) |
38.5 (3.6) |
42.8 (6.0) |
49.6 (9.8) |
60.5 (15.8) |
66.7 (19.3) |
64.5 (18.1) |
57.5 (14.2) |
46.8 (8.2) |
38.9 (3.8) |
31.5 (−0.3) |
47.0 (8.3) |
| Daily mean °F (°C) | 18.9 (−7.3) |
17.8 (−7.9) |
23.7 (−4.6) |
29.2 (−1.6) |
37.3 (2.9) |
47.0 (8.3) |
53.1 (11.7) |
50.9 (10.5) |
44.4 (6.9) |
34.6 (1.4) |
25.6 (−3.6) |
17.1 (−8.3) |
33.3 (0.7) |
| Mean daily minimum °F (°C) | 3.8 (−15.7) |
2.8 (−16.2) |
8.8 (−12.9) |
15.6 (−9.1) |
25.0 (−3.9) |
33.4 (0.8) |
39.5 (4.2) |
37.4 (3.0) |
31.3 (−0.4) |
22.4 (−5.3) |
12.2 (−11.0) |
2.8 (−16.2) |
19.6 (−6.9) |
| Mean minimum °F (°C) | −16.8 (−27.1) |
−17.8 (−27.7) |
−11.2 (−24.0) |
−3.1 (−19.5) |
9.8 (−12.3) |
23.8 (−4.6) |
32.0 (0.0) |
29.8 (−1.2) |
20.1 (−6.6) |
4.6 (−15.2) |
−9.8 (−23.2) |
−19.4 (−28.6) |
−22.9 (−30.5) |
| Record low °F (°C) | −30 (−34) |
−27 (−33) |
−16 (−27) |
−13 (−25) |
−2 (−19) |
16 (−9) |
28 (−2) |
24 (−4) |
15 (−9) |
−10 (−23) |
−23 (−31) |
−30 (−34) |
−30 (−34) |
| Average precipitation inches (mm) | 2.17 (55) |
2.34 (59) |
2.05 (52) |
2.34 (59) |
2.13 (54) |
1.40 (36) |
1.91 (49) |
2.28 (58) |
2.50 (64) |
2.42 (61) |
2.13 (54) |
2.36 (60) |
26.03 (661) |
| Source 1: XMACIS2 | |||||||||||||
| Source 2: NOAA (Precipitation) | |||||||||||||