Utahns breath sigh of relief on major flood risk, for now

SALT LAKE CITY — Some relief is here when it comes to Utah’s flood risk with cooler temperatures expected over the next week.

But Utah’s rivers are certainly not out of the woods.

As of Thursday, only two rivers were in flood stage. The South Fork of the Ogden River and the Sevier River near Hatch.

Flood risk still present, water needs to come down

But, the National Weather Service of Salt Lake City says two-thirds of Utah’s record snowpack still has to come down.

“A lot of these tributaries that are mainly fed by the higher terrain snowpack, such as Big and Little Cottonwood Creek,” said meteorologist Hayden Mahan. “Those haven’t really seen much of a rise because we haven’t really melted much of the water that feeds those tributaries.”

Luckily, more average springtime temps are expected this next week. Temperatures are expected to be in the 60s, and that’s pretty ideal for slowly bringing down more water.

“We’ll continue this cool spell through the next week or so,” Mahan said. 

But any warm days in a row, like we saw this week, could bring the risk back up.

“This threat is going to continue to remain for the next couple of months,” he said.

Mahan added that the unsettled weather pattern for the next week could add some water or snow to river levels. However, according to Mahan, they would be scattered and localized.

Keep reading

• Utah officials monitor flood risk as rain and snow storms return
• Homeless advocates call for extended shelter options amid flooding risks
• Utah flooding risk rising, right along with the temperatures
• Salt Lake County flood control team works to mitigate risk
• Warmer temperatures bring added concern over flooding

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