Utah, 2004

Damaging Winds in Utah, August 2, 2004

August 2, 2004 · NWS SLC · 3 events in 3 counties and zones

Residual moisture from the previous day's thunderstorms combined with another weak short wave trough moving through northern Utah to produce a round of scattered thunderstorms. These storms were able to produce more in the way of measurable rainfall but several severe outflow/microburst winds gusts were still observed.

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
2
Property damage
$17,000
Crop damage
None recorded
Events
3

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.

Residual moisture from the previous day's thunderstorms combined with another weak short wave trough moving through northern Utah to produce a round of scattered thunderstorms. These storms were able to produce more in the way of measurable rainfall but several severe outflow/microburst winds gusts were still observed. A gust to 63 mph was measured at Dugway, a gust to 60 mph in Orem, and a gust to 58 mph occurred at Promontory.

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 Aug 2, 9:00 AM MST, 4 hours 40 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Aug 2, 9:00 AM MST, 4 hours 40 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SALT LAKE CITY UT
1000 AM MDT MON AUG 2 2004

.SYNOPSIS...A MOIST AND MODERATE SOUTHERLY FLOW WILL REMAIN OVER THE
AREA THROUGH TONIGHT. A DRIER SOUTHWEST FLOW IS EXPECTED TUESDAY
FOR THE NORTHERN HALF OF THE FORECAST AREA WITH MOISTURE REMAINING
OVER THE SOUTHERN PORTION.

&&

.DISCUSSION...AN ACTIVE DAY FOR MOIST CONVECTION IN STORE FOR THE
CWA TODAY. MOIST PLUME RESIDES OVER MUCH OF THE GREAT BASIN WITH
PWS BETWEEN 100 AND 150 PERCENT OF NORMAL FROM FGZ TO SLC AND LKN
TO BOI THIS MORNING. INSTABILITY TO BE PROVIDED BY COOLING BETWEEN
550 AND 400 MB IN BUFR FORECAST SOUNDINGS. SURFACE HEATING WILL
PROVIDE ADDITIONAL BOOST TO CONVECTION IN NORTHWEST UTAH WHERE THE
LEAST CLOUD COVER EXISTS. UPPER LEVEL DYNAMICS ALSO IN PLACE THIS
AFTERNOON AS 300 MB JET LIFTS ACROSS UTAH IN ADVANCE OF NORTHERN
CALIFORNIA SHORT WAVE. THIS FEATURE TO PROVIDE MARGINAL 850 TO 400
MB SHEAR VALUES OF AROUND 30-35KTS AFTER 2100Z FOR SOME STRONG
STORMS PARTICULARLY LATE THIS AFTERNOON IN NORTHWEST UTAH. WIND AND
HAIL LOOKS TO BE THE GREATEST THREAT IN MOST AREAS. ADDITIONAL WEAK
UPPER LEVEL SHORT WAVES WILL RIDE NORTH FROM ARIZONA INTO SOUTHERN
AND EASTERN UTAH ROTATING AROUND THE FOUR CORNERS RIDGE PROVIDING
LIFT IN THE MORE CLOUDY AND COOLER SOUTH. TRAINING AND BACKBUILDING
STORMS IN SOUTHERN UTAH WILL LEAD TO INCREASED THREAT OF LOCAL FLASH
FLOODING SO MODERATE POTENTIAL INDEX LOOKS GOOD. SCATTERED SHOWERS
AND THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED THROUGHOUT THE CWA THIS AFTERNOON
INTO THIS EVENING. NO UPDATES NEEDED AT THIS TIME.

.FIRE WEATHER...BREEZY SOUTH TO SOUTHWEST WINDS ALSO EXPECTED THIS
AFTERNOON IN MOST AREAS WITH APPROACHING PACIFIC TROUGH...ALTHOUGH
WITH HIGHER HUMIDITIES NO FIRE WEATHER HIGHLIGHTS NEEDED TODAY. THIS
MAY CHANGE IN THE NORTH ON TUESDAY AS DRIER AND MORE STABLE AIR
MOVES INTO THE AREA.

&&

.SLC WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...

UT...NONE.
WY...NONE.
ID...NONE.

&&

BRENCHLEY
Hazardous weather outlook, Aug 2, 1:35 PM MST, 5 minutes before
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK...UPDATED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SALT LAKE CITY UT
235 PM MDT MON AUG 2 2004

UTZ001>021-WYZ021-031300-
CACHE VALLEY/UTAH PORTION-CASTLE COUNTRY-
CENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST MOUNTAINS-
GLEN CANYON RECREATION AREA/LAKE POWELL-
GREAT SALT LAKE DESERT AND MOUNTAINS-HENRY MOUNTAINS-
NORTHERN WASATCH FRONT-SALT LAKE AND TOOELE VALLEYS-SAN RAFAEL SWELL-
SANPETE/SEVIER VALLEYS-SOUTH CENTRAL UTAH-SOUTHERN WASATCH FRONT-
SOUTHWEST UTAH-SOUTHWEST WYOMING-UTAHS DIXIE AND ZION NATIONAL PARK-
WASATCH MOUNTAIN VALLEYS-WASATCH MOUNTAINS I-80 NORTH-
WASATCH MOUNTAINS SOUTH OF I-80-WASATCH PLATEAU/BOOK CLIFFS-
WEST CENTRAL UTAH-WESTERN UINTA BASIN-WESTERN UINTA MOUNTAINS-
235 PM MDT MON AUG 2 2004

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR THE WESTERN TWO-THIRDS OF
UTAH AND EXTREME SOUTHWEST WYOMING.

.DAY ONE... TODAY

A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH HAS BEEN ISSUED FOR PORTIONS OF NORTHERN
UTAH UNTIL 9 PM TONIGHT. SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ARE POSSIBLE THIS
AFTERNOON AND EVENING ACROSS THE NORTH-CENTRAL PORTION OF UTAH.
THESE STORMS HAVE THE POTENTIAL TO PRODUCE HEAVY RAIN...LARGE
HAIL...AND DAMAGING WIND GUSTS.  ISOLATED INCIDENTS OF FLASH
FLOODING ARE ALSO POSSIBLE IN SOUTHERN UTAH...ESPECIALLY ACROSS
SOUTHEAST UTAH WHERE ATMOSPHERIC MOISTURE AMOUNTS ARE GREATEST.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN... TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY

NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME.

In the hours before

Local storm report, Aug 2, 1:18 PM MST, 22 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SALT LAKE CITY UT
218 PM MDT MON AUG 02 2004

..TIME...   ...EVENT...     ...CITY LOCATION...      ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....     ..COUNTY LOCATION...ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0217 PM     TSTM WND GST     15 SW DUGWAY            40.08N 112.95W
08/02/2004  60 MPH           TOOELE             UT   MESONET

            CAMELBACK MOUNTAIN

&&

DB

The radar

The Salt Lake City radar (KMTX), 115 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 20:40 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

3 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.

Thunderstorm Wind, Tooele

When
August 2, 1:40 PM MST to 2:00 PM MST
Where
Tooele County, Dugway
Measured
63 kt (72 mph) measured gust
Injuries
2 direct, 0 indirect
Property damage
$12,000
Reported by
AIRPLANE PILOT
Coordinates
40.250, -112.750

Thunderstorm Wind, Box Elder

When
August 2, 3:37 PM MST to 4:00 PM MST
Where
Box Elder County, Promontory
Measured
58 kt (67 mph) measured gust
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
41.617, -112.567

Thunderstorm Wind, Utah

When
August 2, 3:38 PM MST to 4:00 PM MST
Where
Utah County, Orem
Measured
60 kt (69 mph) measured gust
Property damage
$5,000
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
40.317, -111.700

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 2004Every state in 2004This day in weather historyWarnings in Utah, August 2004

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: 5427888, 5427887, 5427886.