Scattered thunderstorms expected along the Wasatch Front, flash flooding in the national parks
Aug 22, 2024, 2:00 PM
FILE: Flash flooding in Zion National Park resulted in the deaths of three men and one woman, and three others from the canyoneering group remain unaccounted for Tuesday, Sept. 15, 2015. Scattered thunderstorms and flash flooding are predicted for this weekend. (Scott G Winterton/Deseret News)
(Scott G Winterton/Deseret News)
SALT LAKE CITY— More scattered rain and thunderstorms and ‘probable’ flash flooding are forecasted this weekend. Storms are expected Thursday afternoon and evening, as well as Friday afternoon all along the Wasatch Front.
While it’s hard to predict how much rain will fall with monsoonal storms ahead of time, National Weather Service Senior Meteorologist Monica Traphagan told KSL NewsRadio they can have a big impact on the isolated areas they hit.
Monsoonal thunderstorms across the Four Corners region may result in excessive rainfall and isolated incidences of flash flooding through Friday, especially over burn scar locations.
Elevated to Critical fire weather conditions are forecast over the Great Basin and Intermountain… pic.twitter.com/Zp6S5fQlsV
— National Weather Service (@NWS) August 22, 2024
“These scattered showers, nothing is wrong with them, the individual cells aren’t terribly big. But they are dumping rain. And if you happen to be over that area you could see a lot of rain in a small amount of time,” said Traphagan.
Officials listed flash flooding as ‘probable’ in all of Utah’s National Parks and ‘expected’ in Zion National Park for Thursday. Friday, the weather service listed flooding as ‘possible’ for all the parks Friday.
“We ask people to modify their plans if they can. Because the last place you want to be when there’s heavy rain falling is a slot canyon. You do not want to become a static,” said Traphagan.
Traphagan said storms are expected to move east by Friday. This means Eastern Utah is at a higher chance of seeing rain this weekend than the rest of the Beehive State.
Just in the last 4 hours we’ve seen some impressive rainfall on the west end of St. George! #utwx pic.twitter.com/IK5JPAKApD
— Matthew Johnson (@KSL_Matt) August 22, 2024
KSL Meteorologist Matt Johnson said, for the most part, the Wasatch Front is expected to be dry this weekend with cooler temperatures.
High’s Sunday aren’t expected to exceed the high-70’s in Salt Lake City.
