Monsoon surge brings threat of strong to severe thunderstorms in Utah this weekend

SALT LAKE CITY ( ABC4 ) — We closed the workweek on a dry and sunny note, but a major shift is here for the weekend with a surge of monsoon moisture moving into the state!

We had active skies to start the workweek with monsoon moisture in place, and we will once again see storms capitalize on monsoon moisture bringing strong thunderstorms, heavy rain, abundant lightning, gusty winds, and the possibility of flooding for some areas this weekend. Moisture will uptick starting early Saturday morning with increasing cloud cover starting in the southwest corner of the state and surging north into the West Desert and central part of the state before noon.

By the afternoon hours, thunderstorms will develop and track through the Wasatch Front. Active skies in northern Utah peak for the afternoon and evening, and the strong storms will be scattered to widespread from most of Utah and southwest Wyoming. The Storm Prediction Center ended up upgrading our thunderstorm threat to a “marginal risk,” which calls for isolated severe storms with winds in excess of 58 miles per hour, hail up to an inch in diameter, heavy rain and plenty of lightning.

With the robust monsoon surge underway, the potential for flash flooding heightens due to excessive rainfall. As a result, a “Flood Watch” has been issued for Central Utah mountains, the Wasatch Plateau, Book Cliffs as well as parts of southern Utah including South Central Utah, the Southern Mountains, Upper Sevier River Valleys, Lower Washington County and Zion National Park. The watch is in effect from Saturday morning through 10 p.m. on Sunday, but this could easily be upgraded and/or expanded through the weekend. A watch like this is a big warning call for outdoor recreation areas and low-lying drainages. Excessive runoff may result in flooding of slot canyons, normally dry washes, creeks and streams, recent burn scars including the Silver King Mine Burn Scar, and other low-lying and flood-prone locations. The National Weather Service asked folks Friday to *not* become a statistic this weekend with dangerous conditions expected.

When it comes to the timing of the storms for Saturday, we start to see that moisture increasing in Washington County into the early morning hours with storms developing between 10 a.m. and noon. Moisture surges north into the West Desert and central Utah by noon, and the afternoon and evening present the chance of scattered to widespread storms along the Wasatch Front and eventually pushing into Cache Valley, northeast Utah and southwest Wyoming.

We will be updating you through the weekend with active alerts and changing conditions — keeping you updated on the latest developments in our 4Warn Weather forecast both on-air and online. We are Good4Utah!

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