High Wind in Utah, January 28, 2001

Name: High Wind in Utah, January 28, 2001
Start: 2001-01-28T00:30
End: 2001-01-28T12:00
Location: Utah

January 28, 2001 · NWS SLC · 2 events in 2 counties and zones

Canyon winds kicked up once again along the Wasatch Front, with gusts of 50-60 mph common from Salt Lake City north to Ogden. Centerville clocked a gust of 64mph (55kts), while the Salt Lake Foothill area recorded a gust to 60mph (52kts).

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 2

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 SLC wrote it up.

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before the first event, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

NWS Salt Lake City, UT wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jan 27, 8:30 PM MST, 4 hours earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jan 27, 8:30 PM MST, 4 hours before

UTAH AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SALT LAKE CITY UTAH
830 PM MST SAT JAN 27 2001

SYNOPSIS...A LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM OVER ARIZONA WILL CONTINUE TO
SPREAD RAIN AND SNOW ACROSS SOUTHERN AND EASTERN UTAH INTO SUNDAY.
THE NEXT WINTER STORM SYSTEM WILL MOVE INTO NORTHWEST UTAH MONDAY
NIGHT...THEN TRACK EAST ACROSS THE STATE TUESDAY.

DISCUSSION...NO UPDATES TO THE FORECAST THIS EVENING THOUGH I WILL
BE FRESHENING UP OUR STATEMENTS HERE SHORTLY. UPPER LOW REMAINS OVER
SW AZ EARLY THIS EVENING. DEEP MOISTURE CONTINUES TO SPREAD ACROSS
SRN AND ERN UT IN THE SOUTHEASTERLY FLOW AHEAD OF THAT LOW. SOME
REPORTS OF SNOWFALL AMOUNTS TODAY INCLUDE:  TORREY 10 INCHES...
TEASDALE 8-10 INCHES... MONTICELLO 7 INCHES...BRIAN HEAD 5...
ESCALANTE 4 AND HANKSVILLE WITH 3. AREAS OF SNOW WILL CONTINUE INTO
SUNDAY AS THE UPPER LOW SLOWLY LIFTS INTO SOUTH CENTRAL COLORADO.
THE FORECAST AND SNOW ADVISORY FOR MUCH OF SOUTHERN AND EASTERN UTAH
LOOKS GREAT.

NEW ETA SHOWS ONE FINAL VORT LOBE WILL ROTATE AROUND ON THE BACK
SIDE OF LOW SUNDAY. THIS WILL KEEP SNOW GOING ACROSS EASTERN UTAH
INTO THE AFTERNOON. ELSEWHERE ACROSS SOUTHERN UTAH SKIES WILL BEGIN
CLEARING WITH THE SNOWFALL GRADUALLY ENDING FROM THE WEST. THIS STORM
SYSTEM WILL THEN DO QUITE A NUMBER ACROSS THE CENTRAL PLAINS THE
NEXT SEVERAL DAYS.

AS FAR AS THE CANYON WINDS IN THE NORTH...MOST RIDGETOP SITES NORTH
OF I-80 REMAIN EASTERLY 35-45 MPH WITH GUSTS IN EXCESS 50 MPH. NEW
ETA REVEALS DEFINITE ADVISORY LEVEL CANYON WINDS TONIGHT WITH THE
POTENTIAL FOR SOME GUSTS APPROACHING 60 MPH. SUNDAY MORNING THE LOW
LEVEL FLOW QUICKLY TURNS MORE NORTHERLY WITH THE LANDER TO SLC
GRADIENT (CURRENTLY AT 12MB) RELAXING TO 5 MB. THIS WILL BE WHEN OUR
CANYON WINDS END. CURRENT FORECAST COVERS THIS FINE.

NEXT WINTER STORM SYSTEM SCHEDULED FOR MONDAY NIGHT INTO TUESDAY.
IT WILL BE A CLASSIC FAST MOVING COLD FRONTAL SYSTEM. THE NEW ETA
PUTS THE COLD FRONT THROUGH SLC EARLY MONDAY EVENING. SNOWFALL WILL
THEN OCCUR IN THE POST FRONTAL NORTHWEST FLOW WITH GOOD INSTABILITY
AND LOW LEVEL MOISTURE INTO TUESDAY. ALSO WITH 700MB TEMPS PROGGED
TO -16C (H5 AT -29C) BY 12Z TUESDAY...THE DREADED LAKE EFFECT IS NOT
OUT OF THE QUESTION. GOOD NEWS FOR THE COTTONWOOD SKI AREAS...BUT
THIS WILL ALSO RESULT IN MESSY COMMUTE ALONG THE WASATCH FRONT
TUESDAY MORNING. RIGHT NOW (IMHO) ITS LOOKING LIKE A HIGH END SNOW
ADVISORY/LOW END HEAVY SNOW WARNING EVENT FOR NORTHERN AND PORTIONS
OF CENTRAL UTAH. SNOW WILL BE MORE SCATTERED ACROSS SOUTHERN UTAH
TUESDAY.

BEYOND THAT ANOTHER RIDGE DEVELOPS OVER THE GREAT BASIN INTO NEXT
WEEKEND. WESTERLIES NOT EXPECTED TO BREAK DOWN THIS RIDGE UNTIL
PERHAPS SUNDAY THE 4TH BASED ON TODAYS EC/UK SOLUTIONS. EXPECT A
RETURN TO STAGNANT CONDITIONS BEYOND TUESDAY UFN.

SLC ---- CDC 651-  MAIER

.SLC...HIGH WIND WARNING THROUGH SUNDAY MORNING WASATCH FRONT AND
       CACHE VALLEY.  UTZ001>004.
    ...SNOW ADVISORY THROUGH SUNDAY MORNING FOR MUCH OF SOUTHERN
       UTAH...       UTZ012-013-017-018-020-021.

Event by event

2 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.

High Wind, Ne Box Elder T X Ne/W Weber/Davis

When: January 28, 12:30 AM MST
Where: Ne Box Elder T X Ne/W Weber/Davis forecast zone
Measured: 55 kt (63 mph)
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER

High Wind, W Salt Lake T X W/E Toole T X E

When: January 28, 12:00 PM MST
Where: W Salt Lake T X W/E Toole T X E forecast zone
Measured: 52 kt (60 mph)
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER

What these are

High Wind: Sustained non-thunderstorm winds of 40 mph or more for an hour, or gusts of 58 mph or more.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in Utah in 2001 Every state in 2001 This day in weather history Warnings in Utah, January 2001

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: 5276354, 5276412.