Thunderstorms, flash flooding to impact Utah Sunday

SALT LAKE CITY ( ABC4 ) — Happy Sunday, Utah! It’ll be a case of rinse and repeat today with a similar setup to what we saw yesterday.

Scattered thunderstorms will first impact the higher elevations and eventually the valleys by late afternoon. Flash flooding will continue being a major concern today, especially in the south.

Flash floods can occur with little to no warning even if it isn’t raining in your location. Areas like slot canyons, dry washes, burn scars, and other low-lying areas are particularly susceptible to flash flooding thanks to the nature of their water-funneling geography. Unfortunately, southern Utah’s outdoor recreation areas are defined by this geography. All of the national and state parks in southern Utah are in the “Probable” flash flood category, with the exception of Arches National Park which is in the “Possible” zone. This is NOT the weekend to be outdoors in these flood-prone areas.

Moisture will help keep temperatures right around average if not a couple degrees below. Daytime highs will be in the low 90s along the Wasatch Front with low 80s in the Wasatch Back. Things trend cooler southward with highs in the mid 80s to low 90s, and upper 90s for St. George.

We see moisture start to taper off by tomorrow, but there will still be enough for isolated thunderstorms to pop up. Temperatures will slowly warm to the mid 90s for most by Monday and Tuesday. The high pressure will retrograde back into the state on Tuesday which will cut off the monsoonal flow and briefly dry things off. That’ll give us a brief break before more unsettled weather approaches in the midweek.

The bottom line? Severe thunderstorms and flash flooding will impact Utah throughout the weekend. We’ll give you the latest updates in our 4Warn Weather forecast both on-air and online, we are Good4Utah!

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