Flash Flood in Utah, July 26, 2004

Name: Flash Flood in Utah, July 26, 2004
Start: 2004-07-26T18:50
End: 2004-07-26T19:50
Location: Utah

July 26, 2004 · NWS SLC · 1 event in 1 county or zone

63" within an hour to a Wasatch mountian area that was the site of a wildfire in 2001. The intense rain brought a small debris flow down off the mountian but did not cause and property damage.

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

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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 happened

The episode as NWS SLC wrote it up.

A slow moving strong thunderstorm brought 0.63" within an hour to a Wasatch mountian area that was the site of a wildfire in 2001. The intense rain brought a small debris flow down off the mountian but did not cause and property damage.

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 Jul 26, 2:45 PM MST, 4 hours 5 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 26, 2:45 PM MST, 4 hours 5 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SALT LAKE CITY UT
345 PM MDT MON JUL 26 2004

.SYNOPSIS...WEST TO NORTHWEST FLOW ALOFT WILL REMAIN OVER THE AREA
THROUGH FRIDAY AS A TROUGH DEVELOPS ACROSS THE NORTHERN HIGH
PLAINS.  MID AND HIGH LEVEL MOISTURE WILL REMAIN OVER THE AREA
THROUGH TUESDAY WITH SLOW DRYING FOR THE REST OF THE WEEK.

&&

.DISCUSSION...WENT AHEAD AND ISSUED A FLASH FLOOD WATCH FOR
SOUTHEAST UTAH THIS AFTERNOON AND THIS EVENING AS STORMS DEVELOPED
SOME IMPRESSIVE RATES BUT SO FAR THE RAIN AMOUNTS HAVE NOT BEEN SO
GREAT AS MOST STORMS HAVE BEEN PULSE TYPE STORMS. THE FLOW REMAINS
FROM THE NORTHWEST ACROSS SOUTHERN UTAH SO ANY STRONG STORMS WILL BE
TRAVELING DOWN STREAM FOR MOST TRIBUTARIES IN THAT AREA WHICH COULD
EXACERBATE THE FLOODING THE POTENTIAL. PWS CONTINUE TO BE NEAR 1.0
NEAR LAKE POWELL REGION ACCORDING TO THE GOES SOUNDER.

IN THE NORTH A SHORTWAVE IS MOVING ALONG THE IDAHO-UTAH BORDER THIS
EVENING. THESE STORMS WILL LIKELY BE MORE WIND PRODUCERS RATHER THAN
HEAVY RAIN AS THE INVERTED-V TYPE SOUNDING IS PREVALENT ACROSS
NORTHERN UTAH. THE 500-700 THETA RIDGE AXIS...ALBEIT SOMEWHAT
BROAD...IS LOCATED OVER NORTHERN AND WESTERN UTAH THIS EVENING SO
THERE WILL BE A FAIR CHANCE FOR THUNDERSTORMS.

MOISTURE WILL BE SLOW TO DECREASE OVER THE CWA UNTIL A SHORT WAVE IN
THE UPPER LEVEL TROUGH SWINGS ACROSS THE REGION TUESDAY NIGHT. THIS
SHOULD CLEAR OUT MOST OF THE AREA BUT NOT COMPLETELY AS A BAND OF
MIDLEVEL CONVERGENCE REMAINS OVER SOUTHERN UTAH WEDNESDAY. THIS
CONVERGENCE AREA NUDGES NORTHWARD INTO CENTRAL UTAH BY THURSDAY AND
POSSIBLY INTO NORTHERN UTAH FRIDAY. A DRIER SOUTHWEST FLOW DEVELOPS
OVER SOUTHERN UTAH LATE THIS WEEK AND MOVES NORTHWARD ACROSS MOST OF
THE CWA BY SATURDAY. SOME TROPICAL MOISTURE WILL LIKELY MOVE INTO
THE PICTURE BY LATER SUNDAY AND MONDAY AS THE FLOW BECOMES MORE
SOUTHERLY. BOTH THE EC/GFS AGREE ON THIS SCENARIO WITH THE UK
SLIGHTLY MORE SOUTHWESTERLY AND THUS DRIER.

&&

.SLC WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...

UT...FLASH FLOOD WATCH SOUTHEAST PORTION UNTIL 1000 PM TONIGHT
WY...NONE.
ID...NONE.

&&

STRUTHWOLF

In the hours before

Local storm report, Jul 26, 6:50 PM MST, 0 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SALT LAKE CITY UT
750 PM MDT MON JUL 26 2004

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

0734 PM     TSTM WND GST     PROVO                   40.25N 111.64W
07/26/2004  60 MPH           UTAH               UT   CO-OP OBSERVER

            PROVO BYU STATION

&&

CB

The radar

The Salt Lake City radar (KMTX), 143 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 01:48 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.

Flash Flood, Utah

When: July 26, 6:50 PM MST to 7:50 PM MST
Where: Utah County, Santaquin
Reported by: EMERGENCY MANAGER
Coordinates: 40.120, -111.670 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

What these are

Flash Flood: Flooding that begins within six hours of the rain that causes it, or of a dam or levee failure or ice jam release, often with deadly speed.

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

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in Utah in 2004 Every state in 2004 This day in weather history Warnings in Utah, July 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: 5422477.