Damaging Winds and High Wind in Utah, June 12, 2001

Name: Damaging Winds and High Wind in Utah, June 12, 2001
Start: 2001-06-12T14:00
End: 2001-06-12T20:00
Location: Utah

June 12, 2001 · NWS SLC · 5 events in 5 counties and zones

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it. 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

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The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 1
Property damage: $1.1 million
Crop damage: $110,000
Events: 5

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.

A wild and wooly winter-like storm blew into Northern Utah, bringing strong winds and record cold temperatures. The strong cold front brought wind gusts of 84 mph (73 kts) to the west side of the Great Salt Lake. A line of severe thunderstorms developed along the front as it moved into the Wasatch Front. Wind gusts from 60-75 mph were common from Brigham City to Provo, and in the Tooele Valley. Many large trees were downed across the Salt Lake Valley, with roofs and siding damaged as well. Only one minor injury as a boy was hit by a falling tree. Several homes and a few cars were damaged as well by falling trees, and a semi-trailer was turned over on I-80 between Tooele and Wendover. The storm also brought about half-an-inch of snow to the benches of the Wasatch Front, and a few inches in the mountains. A mid-June surprise.

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 Jun 12, 2:00 PM MST, 0 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jun 12, 2:00 PM MST, 0 minutes before

UTAH AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SALT LAKE CITY UT
300 PM MDT TUE JUN 12 2001

SYNOPSIS...AN UPPER LEVEL LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM WILL MOVE EAST THROUGH
IDAHO TUESDAY...THEN INTO WESTERN WYOMING ON WEDNESDAY.  VALLEY
RAIN...MOUNTAIN SNOW...AND UNSEASONABLY COLD TEMPERATURES ARE
EXPECTED THROUGH WEDNESDAY.  TEMPERATURES WILL SLOWLY WARM BACK TO
SEASONAL NORMALS BY THE WEEKEND.

DISCUSSION...TWO DISTINCT BAND OF PRECIP AFFECTING THE INTERMOUNTAIN
REGION AT TIME.  THE FIRST BAND FROM WRN WY BACK INTO CNTRL UT
APPEARS TO BE ALONG AND BEHIND THE LEADING EDGE OF THE 700 MB
BAROCLINIC ZONE.  GOOD DIVERGENCE ALOFT SHOULD HELP MAINTAIN STRONG
UPWARD MOTIONS INTO THIS EVENING...ESPECIALLY OVER NE UT/WRN WY.

SECOND BAND OF PRECIP AHEAD OF A STRONG VORTICITY MAX MOVING INTO
N/CNTRL NV AT TIME.  UPPER LEVEL COLD POOL ASSOCIATED WITH THE
VORTICITY MAX WILL HELP GENERATE STRONG UPWARD MOTIONS OVER NRN
UT/SE ID THIS EVENING.  PRECIP WILL BREAK OFF FOR A WHILE AFTER LATE
EVENING AS THE VORTICITY MAX EXITS INTO WY.  EXPECTING SHOWERY
PRECIP TO GENERATE ONCE AGAIN AS THE UPPER LOW SETTLES JUST NORTH
OF THE STATE.  ALL OF THE ABOVE SHOULD BE ENOUGH TO JUSTIFY A SNOW
ADVISORY ABOVE 7K FOR THE FAR NRN WASATCH RANGE INTO WEDNESDAY
MORNING.

SRN UT NOT ENTIRELY OUT OF THE PICTURE WITH THIS STORM.  A STRONG
VORTICITY MAX ROTATING DOWN THE WEST SIDE OF THE LOW WILL RACE
ACROSS SRN UT EARLY WEDNESDAY.  MOISTURE HAS IMPROVED OVER THE
SOUTH THIS AFTERNOON...SO WITH THE DYNAMIC SUPPORT WILL LOOK FOR A
BIT HIGHER THREAT OF PRECIP FOR THE SRN SECTIONS OF THE STATE.

WARMING TREND HEADING INTO THE WEEKEND WILL GET A SLOW START
THURSDAY IN TRAILING NW FLOW ALOFT.  WESTERLY FLOW ON FRIDAY TURNING
A MORE SWLY OVER THE WEEKEND AS HEIGHTS SLOWLY RISE OVER THE SRN
PLAINS STATES.  WARMING TREND MAY BE SOMEWHAT SUBDUED DUE TO WEAK
MIXING.  HOWEVER...IT IS MID-JUNE SO WOULD EXPECTS TEMPS BACK lTO OR
A LITTLE ABOVE NORMAL BY THE END OF THE WEEKEND.

SLC 842-  CDC 231-  CONGER

.SLC...SNOW ADVISORY NRN WASATCH MTNS THRU WED MRNG UTZ007-IDZ025
    ...WIND ADVISORY NW DESERTS/SALT FLATS THIS EVENING UTZ005.

The radar

The Salt Lake City radar (KMTX), 42 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 21:29 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

4 thunderstorm wind, 1 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.

High Wind, C W Box Elder/C W Xe Toole/X W Salt Lake/X Nw Utah

When: June 12, 2:00 PM MST to 8:00 PM MST
Where: C W Box Elder/C W Xe Toole/X W Salt Lake/X Nw Utah forecast zone
Measured: 73 kt (84 mph)
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC

Thunderstorm Wind, Davis

When: June 12, 2:30 PM MST to 4:30 PM MST
Where: Davis County, Countywide
Measured: 55 kt (63 mph)
Property damage: $100,000
Crop damage: $10,000
Reported by: GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates: 40.950, -112.167

Thunderstorm Wind, Salt Lake

When: June 12, 2:30 PM MST to 4:30 PM MST
Where: Salt Lake County, Countywide
Measured: 64 kt (74 mph)
Injuries: 1 direct, 0 indirect
Property damage: $500,000
Crop damage: $50,000
Reported by: GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates: 40.717, -111.917

Thunderstorm Wind, Tooele

When: June 12, 2:30 PM MST to 4:30 PM MST
Where: Tooele County, Countywide
Measured: 68 kt (78 mph)
Property damage: $200,000
Crop damage: $25,000
Reported by: GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates: 40.467, -113.133

Thunderstorm Wind, Utah

When: June 12, 2:30 PM MST to 4:30 PM MST
Where: Utah County, Countywide
Measured: 65 kt (75 mph)
Property damage: $250,000
Crop damage: $25,000
Reported by: GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates: 40.200, -111.617

What these are

High Wind: Sustained non-thunderstorm winds of 40 mph or more for an hour, or gusts of 58 mph or more.
Thunderstorm Wind: Winds from a thunderstorm of 50 knots (58 mph) or more, or lower winds that caused damage or casualties. Measured gusts are marked MG, estimated EG.

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, June 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: 5275265, 5275266, 5275267, 5275268, 5275269.