Monsoon moisture surges northward at end of workweek

SALT LAKE CITY ( ABC4 ) – Happy Thursday, Utah! Flash flooding and the risk for a few strong to severe storms for portions of Utah as we head into the weekend.

As we round out the work week we’ll see another surge of monsoonal moisture stream into the state. We’ve already seen heavy rain and thunderstorms this morning in portions of southern Utah, leading to a Flash Flood Warning in Washington County. Radar has estimated between 1.00-2.00″ of rain since midnight.

The moisture will continue to spread further north throughout Thursday evening. The main focus for storm development will remain in central and southern Utah, but isolated storms will be possible for the Wasatch Front and Cache Valley later Thursday evening. The afternoon showers and storms could produce heavy rainfall and potential flash flooding.

The flood risk is elevated for Thursday and Friday across central and southern sections of Utah. Along with the threat of flooding, a few of the storms could become strong to severe, especially along the I-15 corridor from north to south across Utah.

This could lead to not only heavy rainfall, but microburst gusty winds, and the potential for some small hail. Right now, the greatest risk for severe storms looks to be central sections on Thursday afternoon and east of I-15 on Friday afternoon.

A strong cold front is expected to move into the Pacific Northwest late this week, bringing significant changes to the Beehive State. On Friday, expect strong southerly winds ahead of the front, particularly in western Utah, where gusts could reach 40 to 50 mph, with isolated areas seeing even stronger winds.

The National Weather Service has issued a Fire Weather Watch for most of western Utah, in effect from Friday afternoon through Friday night. Southerly winds will reach 15-30 mph with gusts up to 45 mph. Couple that with humidity as low as 5-10% and you have ingredients for rapidly spreading fire. The watch area will likely become a Red Flag Warning as we get closer to the strong wind event.

This weekend brings the first taste of fall, with temperatures dropping 5 to 10 degrees below normal, and in some places, up to 15 degrees below normal.

Sunday’s low temperatures could be near or below freezing above 9,000 feet. The cold front will likely stall over the state, bringing cooler temperatures and strong winds on Saturday, though not as intense as on Friday.

As for daytime highs, the coolest temperatures of the weekend will be on Sunday with highs forecast to stay in the 70s along the Wasatch Front with low 90s for St. George. The cooldown will be short-lived as the storm moves northeast early next week. This will allow for high pressure to build back in and temperatures to rebound back to seasonal averages by Tuesday.

We’ll continue to keep you up-to-date on the latest in our 4Warn Weather forecast both on-air and online, we are Good4Utah!

• Monsoon moisture increases through Friday statewide
• Flash flood potential increases to “Probable” for parks on Thursday
• T-storms remain likely on Friday
• Strong winds ahead of cold front
• Fire weather watch
• Huge weekend cooldown
• Feeling like fall on Sunday
• Starting the new week dry

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