Utah, 2002

Damaging Wind in Utah, March 23, 2002

March 23, 2002 · NWS SLC · 1 event in 1 county or zone

1 thunderstorm wind, as filed by the National Weather Service.

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

Open the live radar over this ground

The toll

Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
None recorded
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 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 Mar 23, 3:20 PM MST, 1 hour 40 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Mar 23, 3:20 PM MST, 1 hour 40 minutes before
UTAH AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SALT LAKE CITY UT
320 PM MST SAT MAR 23 2002

.SYNOPSIS...A COLD FRONT WILL MOVE ACROSS THE UTAH TONIGHT.  A COOL
AND MOIST AIRMASS WILL REMAIN OVER THE STATE SUNDAY AND INTO THE DAY
MONDAY.  HIGH PRESSURE ALOFT WILL RETURN FOR TUESDAY AND WEDNESDAY.

.DISCUSSION...UPPER TROUGH WELL INLAND NOW WITH THE LEADING EDGE OF
THE COLDER AIR CURRENTLY ALONG THE UT/NV BORDER.  PLENTY OF
CONVECTIVE INSTABILITY ALONG AND JUST AHEAD OF THE COLDER AIR...
THOUGH THE CONVECTION IS NOT PARTICULARLY DEEP AT TIME.

THE SURFACE FRONT SHOULD SWEEP ACROSS THE STATE OVERNIGHT.  STRONG
SOUTHERLY SURFACE WINDS SUPPORTED BY STRONG FLOW ALOFT UP TROUGH 700
MB HAVE DEVELOPED OVER SRN UT THIS AFTERNOON.  THESE WINDS SHOULD
DROP OFF SIGNIFICANTLY AROUND MIDEVENING AS THE SURFACE AND UPPER
WINDS DECOUPLE.  ONE REAL PROBLEM AREA WILL BE S/CNTRL UT.  HAVE
ISSUED A WIND ADVISORY TO COVER THAT AREA.

CONVECTIVE PRECIP...AT LEAST THAT WHICH IS MEASURABLE...SHOULD
OCCUR ALONG AND BEHIND THE SURFACE FRONT IN THE COLDER AIR ALOFT.
THE TROUGH ITSELF WEAKENS AS IT SETTLES OVER THE REGION...THOUGH WE
SHOULD BE ABLE TO PRODUCE FAIRLY WIDESPREAD PRECIP OUT OF THIS TYPE
OF AIRMASS.  COULD SEE ADVISORY-LEVEL SNOWFALLS IN THE NRN
MOUNTAINS...SO WILL ISSUE AN ADVISORY TO COVER THE SITUATION.

SHOWERY PRECIP A GOOD BET STATEWIDE ON SUNDAY.  HAD THOUGHT EARLIER
THAT SRN UT COULD BE A BIT MORE ORGANIZED WITH THE OLD BAROCLINIC
ZONE AND THE JET NEARBY...BUT THIS NOW LOOKS LIKE IT WILL BE A BIT
TOO FAR TO SOUTH.  STILL SCATTERED SHOWERY PRECIP LOOKS FINE...WITH
A LITTLE BETTER THREAT FOR THE HIGH COUNTRY.

MONDAY WILL BE THE TRANSITION DAY AS THE RIDGING ALOFT FOLLOWS FOR
TUESDAY/WEDNESDAY.  LATEST AVN STILL HOLDING ON TO FORMING A CLOSED
LOW OFF THE NRN CA COAST LATE MONDAY...THEN KEEPING THIS FEATURE
ALONG THE SRN CA COAST INTO THE LATTER HALF OF THE WEEK.  OTHER THAN
SENDING MOISTURE INTO THE SRN HALF OF THE STATE...DONT SEE ANYTHING
MORE THAN MOUNTAIN SHOWERS TOWARDS THE END OF THE WEEK.  THE NORTH
MAY BE A BIT TRICKIER AS SHORTWAVES RIPPLING EAST THROUGH THE NRN
ROCKIES COULD CLIP THE FAR NRN ZONES.

SLC 7543  CDC 5551   CONGER

.SLC...SNOW ADVISORY NRN MOUNTAIN THROUGH SUNDAY MORNING
       /UTZ007>010-IDZ025/
    ...WIND ADVISORY SOUTH CENTRAL VALLEYS THROUGH 04Z
       /UTZ020-021/.

The radar

The Salt Lake City radar (KMTX), 107 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 00:01 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.

Thunderstorm Wind, Tooele

When
March 23, 5:00 PM MST
Where
Tooele County, Central Portion
Measured
53 kt (61 mph)
Reported by
AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates
40.449, -113.131 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

A thunderstorm wind gust to 61 mph (53 kts) was recorded by the Flux mesonet in Tooele County.

What these are

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

More

Every storm in Utah in 2002Every state in 2002This day in weather historyWarnings in Utah, March 2002

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: 5324439.