Flash Flood, Uintah
- When
- May 19, 12:00 AM MST to 8:00 PM MST
- Where
- Uintah County, 24 mi NW of Vernal
- Property damage
- $100,000
- Coordinates
- 40.125, -109.518 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Flash Flood in Utah, May 19, 1997
Snowmelt water overflowed a high elevation irrigation canal which was blocked with ice. The overflow caused rapid erosion of loose soils on a forested mountainside 24 miles northwest of Vernal.
Where it happened
Every event with a place to put it; 1 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.
- Tornadoes
- Tropical storms and surge
- Floods
- Wind
- Hail
- Winter weather
- Heat and drought
- Cold
- Fire, smoke and dust
- Marine and coastal
- Other
The toll
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- Property damage
- $100,000
- Crop damage
- None recorded
- Events
- 1
Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.
What happened
The episode as NWS GJT wrote it up.
Snowmelt water overflowed a high elevation irrigation canal which was blocked with ice. The overflow caused rapid erosion of loose soils on a forested mountainside 24 miles northwest of Vernal. This resulted in a 1000 yard long chasm up to 300 feet deep and 1000 feet wide. Over 2 million cubic yards of soil and rock were displaced. A debris dam in the chasm eventually breached, resulting in a wall of water moving down Dry Fork (creek) and into Ashley Creek. Some dirt roads were washed out and the water supply for many residents in the Vernal area became clogged with sediment. The large volume of sediment also flowed into irrigation canals near Vernal which forced an extended shutdown of irrigation water.
The radar
The Grand Junction radar (KGJX), 163 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 07:01 UTC.
Event by event
1 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.
What these are
- Flash Flood
- Flooding that begins within six hours of the rain that causes it, or of a dam or levee failure or ice jam release, often with deadly speed.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
The same day elsewhere
- Damaging Wind in California, May 19, 1997
- Heavy Rain in Pennsylvania, May 19, 1997
- Flash Flood in Pennsylvania, May 19, 1997
- Lightning Strike in California, May 19, 1997
- Damaging Winds in Pennsylvania, May 19, 1997
- Flash Flood in California, May 19, 1997
- Flash Flooding and Damaging Winds in Tennessee, May 19, 1997
- Flash Flooding and Hail in Texas, May 19, 1997
- Flash Flooding and Damaging Winds in Texas, May 19, 1997
- Flash Flood and Flood in Mississippi, May 19, 1997
- Flash Flood and Damaging Winds in Tennessee, May 19, 1997
- Flash Flooding and Damaging Winds in Kentucky, May 19 to 31, 1997
More
Every storm in Utah in 1997Every state in 1997This day in weather historyWarnings in Utah, May 1997
Sources
NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5600649.