Utah, 2004

Flash Flood in Utah, June 29, 2004

June 29, 2004 · NWS SLC · 1 event in 1 county or zone

Monsoonal moisture from the south arrived early and provided the fuel for heavy rain from slow moving thunderstorms. The storms caused local street and basement flooding in the Escalate area as well rapid rises to the Escalate River.

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.

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  • Cold
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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.

Monsoonal moisture from the south arrived early and provided the fuel for heavy rain from slow moving thunderstorms. The storms caused local street and basement flooding in the Escalate area as well rapid rises to the Escalate River. An area weather spotter reported 2.31 inches of rain between 2:30 PM and 4:00 PM and radar estimates in the area estimated that up to 3 inches fell in the area.

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 29, 9:45 AM MST, 4 hours 15 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jun 29, 9:45 AM MST, 4 hours 15 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SALT LAKE CITY UT
1045 AM MDT TUE JUN 29 2004

.SYNOPSIS...A MOIST SOUTHERLY FLOW ALOFT WILL BRING SHOWERS AND
THUNDERSTORMS TO FORECAST AREA AGAIN TODAY.  A DRIER SOUTH SOUTHWEST
FLOW WILL SPREAD ACROSS THE AREA WEDNESDAY THROUGH THURSDAY.

&&

.DISCUSSION...NW-SE BAND OF MOISTURE AND RELATIVELY WEAK LIFT MOVING
NORTH THROUGH CENTRAL UTAH AT THIS TIME.  GENERAL SOUTHERLY FLOW
WITH EMBEDDED SHORTWAVES...ONE OF WHICH RESPONSIBLE FOR THIS CLOUD
BAND. LIGHT PRECIP...THOUGH MOST ALOFT...MOVING NORTH THROUGH THE
SOUTHERN WASATCH...WITH ANOTHER AREA MOVING NORTH THROUGH THE WEST
DESERTS.  SO PLENTY OF MOISTURE IN PLACE WITH PRECIP WATER AMOUNTS
CLIMBING TO NEAR 0.9 INCHES ON THE FSL PW/GPS SENSOR ON THE SLC WFO
ROOF.   THIS BAND WILL KEEP MAX TEMPS DOWN A BIT THIS
AFTERNOON...POSSIBLY KEEPING THEM BELOW CONVECTIVE TEMPS WHICH AT
THIS TIME ARE IN THE MID 80S. AM CONCERNED CONVECTION MAY NOT FIRE
AS MUCH AS PREVIOUSLY THOUGHT GIVEN LESS HEATING.  WILL LEAVE TRW
FORECAST ALONE WITH THE THOUGHT THAT THE WEAK DYNAMIC LIFT WILL BE
ENOUGH TO FIRE A FEW CELLS.  A FEW LIGHTNING STRIKES HAVE BEEN
REPORTED OVER THE UINTAS IN THE LAST FEW MINUTES AND IN THE LIGHTER
CIRRUS AHEAD OF THIS BAND.  WILL LOOK AT TWEAKING THE CURRENT
PACKAGE TO BRING DOWN AFTERNOON HIGHS A CATEGORY...HOWEVER.  A MORE
SIGNIFICANT SHORTWAVE MOVING NORTH INTO SOUTHWESTERN COLORADO WHICH
WILL HELP TO BETTER FOCUS CONVECTION THERE THIS AFTERNOON.  EASTERN
UTAH WILL BE ON THE EDGE OF THIS LIFT...AND THIS IS COVERED WELL IN
THE CURRENT FORECAST.

SOME DRYING IS SHOWING UP BEHIND THIS CLOUD BAND...ALTHOUGH SURFACE
DEWPOINTS STILL HANGING IN THERE OVER THE SOUTH.  CU BUILDING BACK
UP AS WELL.  SO EXPECT TO SEE AFTERNOON BUILD UPS OVER THE SOUTHWEST
MOUNTAINS...AND SPILLING OVER INTO THE NEARBY VALLEYS.

MODELS CONTINUE TO ADVERTISE DRYING TREND OVER NEXT COUPLE OF DAYS
AS SHOWN ON THE PW PROGS.  MAIN IMPACT WILL BE TO REDUCE TRW CHANCES
IN THE VALLEYS...ESPECIALLY WEST AND SOUTH SECTIONS. ENOUGH MOISTURE
FOR MOUNTAIN TRW.  CONTINUED DECREASE IN ACTIVITY EXPECTED INTO
THURSDAY AND FRIDAY...THEN A UPPER LOW CURRENTLY OVER THE EASTERN
PACIFIC LIFTS OUT THROUGH THE GREAT BASIN FRIDAY NIGHT INTO SATURDAY
FOR BETTER CHANCES OF PRECIP...MAINLY OVER WEST AND NORTHWEST
AREAS.

&&

.SLC WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...

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

&&

JACKSON

The radar

The Cedar City radar (KICX), 128 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 20:59 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.

Flash Flood, Garfield

When
June 29, 2:00 PM MST to 6:00 PM MST
Where
Garfield County, Escalante
Reported by
GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates
37.855, -111.443 (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

More

Every storm in Utah in 2004Every state in 2004This day in weather historyWarnings in Utah, June 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: 5422462.