Flash Flood Warning 109, NWS Salt Lake City, UT

Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Salt Lake City UT
1254 PM MDT Mon Aug 31 2026

.KEY MESSAGES, Issued 1117 AM MDT Mon Aug 31 2026...

- Numerous showers and thunderstorms capable of producing heavy
  rain this afternoon and evening will result in a heightened risk
  of flash flooding for the southern two-thirds of Utah, where a
  Flood Watch for flash flooding is in effect through this
  evening.

- The threat of flooding is highest across slot canyons, normally
  dry washes, slick rock areas, recent burn scars as well as
  areas that have already received very heavy rainfall this
  weekend including the Sanpete and Sevier Valleys, Castle
  Country, and the San Rafael Swell.

- After some modest drying for the middle of the week, there is an
  increasing probability that deep moisture associated with a
  tropical cyclone in the Eastern Pacific will spread northward
  into Utah ahead of a Pacific disturbance for Labor Day weekend.

&&

.DISCUSSION, Issued 1117 AM MDT Mon Aug 31 2026...
High pressure remains in place over the central
United States this morning, with a trough moving onshore over
California and a stronger trough moving into the Dakotas. In
between these features, Utah and southwest Wyoming are under a
southerly flow that is drawing deep monsoonal moisture northward.
Satellite derived PW values remain around 1.0 inch over southern
Utah, with values predominately in the 0.7 to 0.9 range elsewhere,
with the exception of far northern Utah.

Showers and thunderstorms have been bringing heavy rainfall across
portions of southern Utah through the morning, with many of these
cells producing flash flooding. The threat of flooding will only
increase and expand this afternoon as the California trough moves
across Utah, providing additional moisture and instability.
Increased coverage of convection will only increase a risk of
flash flooding that has been elevated all weekend, as indicated by
the rare moderate (level 3 of 4) risk of excessive rainfall
indicated bu the Weather Prediction Center. Additionally, many
areas, especially eastern Utah, have already seen heavy rain,
leading to saturated soils, further increasing the risk. With this
in mind, have expanded the going Flood Watch for flash flooding
to include the Book Cliffs, Uinta Basin, and west central and
southwest Utah.

The California trough is expected to exit the area by tomorrow
morning, with another low approaching the northern California
coast. Guidance indicates this will allow the southerly flow to
advect drier air into the area, at least over western Utah
beginning tomorrow afternoon, with the drier air becoming more
widespread Wednesday into Thursday as the second trough moves
across the Pacific Northwest into the Dakotas. For Tuesday,
guidance overall looks to be unusually quick with diminishing the
potential of thunderstorms and thus flash flooding, so have
increased POPs given recent trends.

The drying trend looks to be short lived, unfortunately, with a
lot of the longer range guidance indicating the southerly flow
increasing Friday into the Labor Day weekend with the approach of
another Pacific Northwest trough. This would allow a tap into an
even more deeply moist airmass from a tropical system, a rather
substantial influx of moisture and something we are keeping a very
close eye on.

&&

.AVIATION, Issued 1212 PM MDT Mon Aug 31 2026...

KSLC...Showers/thunderstorms will develop mid afternoon over the
Oquirrhs and begin to impact the terminal vicinity with a 30% chance
of gusty winds and towering cumulus. Southerly winds will become
established by mid-afternoon, gusty at times. There is then a 70%
chance that a more organized and widespread area of showers with
embedded thunderstorms will move through the Wasatch Front including
KSLC between 23Z and 02Z, bringing a greater threat of gusty and
erratic winds as well as heavy rain bringing a low chance of MVFR
visibilities and lower cigs. There is a threat of wind gusts as high
as 45 kts with this late afternoon/evening round of thunderstorms.
Quieter conditions are expected overnight with lighter southeasterly
winds.

REST OF UTAH AND SOUTHWEST WYOMING...Afternoon showers and
thunderstorms will develop across the majority of the region today,
initially over southern Utah (including KSGU and KCDC) through the
early afternoon, higher terrain through the mid afternoon, and
finally the majority of the Wasatch Front by late afternoon and
early evening. There is a 70% chance that the late-afternoon and
early evening thunderstorms over the Wasatch Front from Nephi
northward becomes a large area of rain with embedded strong
thunderstorms. Any storms will be capable of gusty and erratic winds
in addition to very heavy rainfall reducing visibility to at least
MVFR in addition to lowered ceilings. This activity should push
northward out of the area and come to an end by 03-06Z, with light
southerly winds persisting overnight into tomorrow.
Shower/thunderstorm coverage tomorrow looks to be more limited as
drier air moves into the region.

&&

.FIRE WEATHER...Showers and thunderstorms are continuing to
develop and will only increase in coverage across the entire
state into the evening as a low pressure system crosses the area
in an already moist airmass. This will bring a high chance (50 to
85 percent) of wetting rain, particularly for the higher terrain
of central and southern Utah. Relative humidities will also remain
on the high side, with very few locations falling below 30
percent. Drier air will start to move in from the west on Tuesday,
but this should not be noticeable for much of the area until
Wednesday into Thursday. This is likely to push minimum relative
humidity values into the teens across western Utah Wednesday into
Thursday. In combination with breezy southerly winds due to a low
along the Pacific coast, this could bring area of critical fire
weather conditions. The period of dry weather should be short
lived, however, with guidance increasingly indicating a
substantial surge of tropical moisture into Utah over the weekend.

&&

.SLC WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
UT...Flood Watch until 9 PM MDT this evening for UTZ113>131.

WY...None.
&&

PUBLIC...Traphagan
AVIATION...Van Cleave
FIRE WEATHER...Traphagan

For more information from NOAA's National Weather Service visit...
http://weather.gov/saltlakecity

Preliminary Local Storm Report
National Weather Service Salt Lake City UT
1109 AM MDT Mon Aug 31 2026

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

1025 AM     Flash Flood      2 NE Escalante          37.78N 111.57W
08/31/2026                   Garfield           UT   Official NWS Obs

            River Gauge on the Escalante at Escalante
            indicates a 433 cfs flood wave hit the gauge
            at 1025. The flow was still increasing.

&&

CRK

Special Weather Statement
National Weather Service Salt Lake City UT
1121 AM MDT Mon Aug 31 2026

UTZ124-125-311800-
Southern Mountains UT-Zion National Park UT-
1121 AM MDT Mon Aug 31 2026

...A strong thunderstorm will impact portions of east central
Washington, northwestern Kane and south central Iron Counties through
NOON MDT
...

At 1121 AM MDT, Doppler radar was tracking a strong thunderstorm near
Zion National Park, moving northeast at 15 mph.

HAZARD...Wind gusts of 50 to 55 mph and nickel size hail.

SOURCE...Radar indicated.

IMPACT...Gusty winds could knock down tree limbs and blow around
         unsecured objects. Minor damage to outdoor objects is
         possible.

Locations impacted include...
Zion National Park and Cedar Breaks National Monument.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

If outdoors, consider seeking shelter inside a building.

Torrential rainfall is also occurring with this storm and may lead to
localized flooding. Do not drive your vehicle through flooded
roadways.

&&

LAT...LON 3731 11299 3738 11312 3767 11289 3750 11263
TIME...MOT...LOC 1721Z 219DEG 13KT 3739 11298

MAX HAIL SIZE...0.88 IN
MAX WIND GUST...55 MPH

CRK

Special Weather Statement
National Weather Service Salt Lake City UT
1127 AM MDT Mon Aug 31 2026

UTZ123-125-128-311815-
South Central Utah UT-Southern Mountains UT-
Lower Washington County UT-
1127 AM MDT Mon Aug 31 2026

...A strong thunderstorm will impact portions of south central
Washington County through 1215 PM MDT
...

At 1127 AM MDT, Doppler radar was tracking a strong thunderstorm near
St George, or 16 miles east of Virgin River Gorge, moving northeast
at 15 mph.

HAZARD...Wind gusts of 50 to 55 mph and nickel size hail.

SOURCE...Radar indicated.

IMPACT...Gusty winds could knock down tree limbs and blow around
         unsecured objects. Minor damage to outdoor objects is
         possible.

Locations impacted include...
St George, Washington, Hurricane, Sand Hollow State Park, Quail Creek
State Park, and Bloomington.

This includes the following highways...
 Interstate 15 between mile markers 1 and 20.
 Utah Route 18 between mile markers 0 and 2.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

If outdoors, consider seeking shelter inside a building.

Torrential rainfall is also occurring with this storm and may lead to
localized flooding. Do not drive your vehicle through flooded
roadways.

&&

LAT...LON 3727 11354 3715 11323 3700 11336 3700 11363
TIME...MOT...LOC 1727Z 205DEG 11KT 3700 11352

MAX HAIL SIZE...0.88 IN
MAX WIND GUST...55 MPH

CRK

<!doctype html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
  <meta charset="utf-8">
  <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1">
  <title>Service Notice</title>
  <link rel="stylesheet" href="index.css">
</head>
<body>
  <main class="wrap">
    <section class="card" role="status" aria-live="polite">
      <div class="status" id="status">Temporary Notice</div>
      <h1 id="headline">This service is currently unavailable.</h1>
      <p id="message1">
        The site you requested is temporarily down for maintenance or an unexpected outage.
      </p>
      <p id="message2">
        Please try again in a few minutes.
      </p>
      <p class="small" id="detail">
        If you are an administrator, restore upstream service and remove the redirect/fallback rule when normal operations resume.
      </p>
    </section>
  </main>
  <script src="index.js"></script>
</body>
</html>

<!doctype html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
  <meta charset="utf-8">
  <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1">
  <title>Service Notice</title>
  <link rel="stylesheet" href="index.css">
</head>
<body>
  <main class="wrap">
    <section class="card" role="status" aria-live="polite">
      <div class="status" id="status">Temporary Notice</div>
      <h1 id="headline">This service is currently unavailable.</h1>
      <p id="message1">
        The site you requested is temporarily down for maintenance or an unexpected outage.
      </p>
      <p id="message2">
        Please try again in a few minutes.
      </p>
      <p class="small" id="detail">
        If you are an administrator, restore upstream service and remove the redirect/fallback rule when normal operations resume.
      </p>
    </section>
  </main>
  <script src="index.js"></script>
</body>
</html>

Special Weather Statement
National Weather Service Salt Lake City UT
1216 PM MDT Mon Aug 31 2026

UTZ125-126-311900-
Upper Sevier River Valleys UT-Southern Mountains UT-
1216 PM MDT Mon Aug 31 2026

...A strong thunderstorm will impact portions of southwestern
Garfield, northwestern Kane and southeastern Iron Counties through
100 PM MDT
...

At 1216 PM MDT, Doppler radar was tracking a strong thunderstorm 9
miles southeast of Cedar Breaks National Monument, or 20 miles
northeast of Zion National Park, moving northeast at 15 mph.

HAZARD...Wind gusts of 50 to 55 mph and nickel size hail.

SOURCE...Radar indicated.

IMPACT...Gusty winds could knock down tree limbs and blow around
         unsecured objects. Minor damage to outdoor objects is
         possible.

Locations impacted include...
Hatch, Cedar Breaks National Monument, Panguitch Lake, and Long
Valley Junction.

This includes US Route 89 between mile markers 104 and 116.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

If outdoors, consider seeking shelter inside a building.

&&

LAT...LON 3740 11276 3760 11292 3786 11259 3755 11234
TIME...MOT...LOC 1816Z 239DEG 15KT 3752 11276

MAX HAIL SIZE...0.88 IN
MAX WIND GUST...55 MPH

CRK