An approaching storm brought strong winds to many mountain locations. Some of the peak wind gusts recorded were 87 mph (76 kts) on Mt.
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.
The episode as NWS SLC wrote it up.
An approaching storm brought strong winds to many mountain locations. Some of the peak wind gusts recorded were 87 mph (76 kts) on Mt. Ogden, 76 mph (66 kts) on Jupiter Peak, and 68 mph (59 kts) on Hidden Peak.
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 Dec 15, 4:15 AM MST, 1 hour 45 minutes earlier.
UTAH AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SALT LAKE CITY UT 415 AM MST SUN DEC 15 2002 .SYNOPSIS...A SERIES OF INCREASINGLY STRONG PACIFIC STORM SYSTEMS WILL INVADE THE INTERMOUNTAIN REGION. THE FIRST SYSTEM WILL MOVE THROUGH MAINLY NORTHERN UTAH TODAY. THE NEXT ONE WILL AFFECT THE ENTIRE REGION MONDAY NIGHT THROUGH WEDNESDAY. .DISCUSSION...SHORT WAVE BEARING DOWN ON THE FORECAST AREA THIS MORNING WITH STRONG SOUTHERLY FLOW AHEAD OF IT. THIS HAS KICKED UP THE WINDS IN THE WESTERN VALLEYS AND MTNS AND THESE WILL PERSIST UNTIL THE COLD FRONT ARRIVES THIS MORNING...THEN DROP OFF. WILL LEAVE WIND ADVISORY GOING THROUGH MID MORNING FOR WEST DESERT AND WASATCH MTN ZONES AND WILL ADD SALT LAKE VALLEY. THIS TROF WILL BE LIFTING OUT TO THE NORTHEAST...AND THEREFORE WEAKENING...AS IT CROSSES OUR FORECAST AREA. I STILL EXPECT IT TO BRING FAIRLY WIDESPREAD PRECIP TO ABOUT THE NORTHERN THIRD OF THE AREA ALTHOUGH AMOUNTS WILL BE ON THE LOW SIDE DUE TO THE WEAKENING TREND AND SHORT DURATION OF THE EVENT. SO WILL NOT ISSUE A SNOW ADVISORY FOR THE MTNS BUT WILL KEEP AMOUNTS RIGHT UP AT CRITERIA. THIS WAVE MOVES PAST BY TONIGHT ALTHOUGH THE COLD POCKET ALOFT AND THE ASSOCIATED INSTABILITY COULD KEEP A FEW SNOW SHOWERS GOING INTO THE EARLY EVE NORTH AND EAST OF ABOUT SLC. PARTIAL CLEARING WILL ALLOW TEMPS TO BECOME CHILLY BY MON MORNING BUT WINDS WILL BE INCREASING AGAIN MONDAY AND EXPECT A WELL MIXED AND MILD DAY. COLD LONG WAVE TROF STILL FORECAST TO SETTLE INTO THE WEST MON NIGHT AND TUE WITH PRECIP BECOMING LIKELY OVER MUCH OF THE AREA. FRONT WILL BE THRU SLC BEFORE 12Z TUE IF AVN IS RIGHT AND IT WILL BRING AN AIRMASS COLD ENOUGH FOR SNOW TO THE VALLEY FLOORS. COLD AND UNSTABLE PATTERN LASTS INTO THU...THEN NEXT TROF COMPLEX STARTS TO MOVE INTO THE WEST ON FRI. THIS WILL KEEP THE THREAT WET AND COLD WEATHER OVER THE AREA THROUGH THE WEEKEND. SLC 724 CDC 102 WILENSKY .SLC...NPW...WIND ADVISORY EARLY TODAY FOR PORTIONS OF THE NORTHERN MTNS AND WESTERN VALLEYS.
IDZ024-025-UTZ001>021-WYZ021-151400- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SALT LAKE CITY UT 700 AM MST SAT DEC 14 2002 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR THE WESTERN TWO-THIRDS OF UTAH...EXTREME SOUTHEAST IDAHO AND EXTREME SOUTHWEST WYOMING .DAY ONE... TODAY NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN... SUNDAY THROUGH FRIDAY A PACIFIC STORM WILL BRING STRONG WINDS...VALLEY RAIN AND MOUNTAIN SNOW TO PORTIONS OF THE FORECAST AREA SUNDAY. A STRONGER AND COLDER STORM WILL IMPACT MUCH OF THE AREA TUESDAY AND WEDNESDAY. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... WEATHER SPOTTERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO REPORT SIGNIFICANT WEATHER CONDITIONS ACCORDING TO STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURE. WCJIN-WYSW
2 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Utah in 2002Every state in 2002This day in weather historyWarnings in Utah, December 2002
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: 5324792, 5324793.