A strong cold front with a narrow band of snow moved through northern and central Utah on January 15th. There were strong winds behind this cold front, with the strongest winds in the state being in the west deserts.
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.
A strong cold front with a narrow band of snow moved through northern and central Utah on January 15th. There were strong winds behind this cold front, with the strongest winds in the state being in the west deserts.
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 Jan 15, 9:15 AM MST, 2 hours 45 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SALT LAKE CITY UT 915 AM MST TUE JAN 15 2008 .SYNOPSIS...A COLD FRONT WILL SURGE THROUGH THE AREA TODAY...USHERING A VERY COLD AIRMASS. NORTHERLY FLOW WILL PERSIST THROUGH THE REMAINDER OF THE WEEK...BEFORE ANOTHER STORM SYSTEM DROPS SOUTH INTO THE GREAT BASIN ON SUNDAY. && .DISCUSSION...ARCTIC FRONT DROPPING INTO FAR NORTHERN UTAH WITH SNOW BAND ACROSS THE CACHE VALLEY INTO THE NORTHERN WASATCH RANGE. HEAVY SNOW FALLING ACROSS THE BEAR RIVER RANGE. THIS BOUNDARY WILL CONTINUE SOUTH THIS MORNING ACROSS THE WASATCH FRONT. STRONG WINDS ARE CONFINED TO THE MOUNTAINS WITH GUSTS 70 MPH IN THE NORTH...HOWEVER STRONG POST FRONTAL WINDS WILL CONTINUE TO DEVELOP AND INCREASE BEHIND THE COLD FRONT...ESPECIALLY IN THE NORTHWEST DESERTS WITH SHARP PRESSURE RISES TODAY. BAROCLINIC ZONE WILL BE SLOW THIS MORNING AS THE MAIN UPPER TROUGH IS CLEARLY ACROSS SOUTHERN IDAHO PER WATER VAPOR AND WILL ENHANCE THE FRONTAL BAND. BAROCLINIC ZONE WILL BRING SOME SNOW DOWN TO THE SOUTHERN WASATCH FRONT LATE THIS MORNING AND INTO MID AFTERNOON AND WITH MEAN FLOW BECOMING NORTHWEST SNOW SHOWERS WILL CONTINUE THROUGH THE AFTERNOON AND INTO THE EVENING ACROSS THE WASATCH RANGE...AND SPREADING SOUTH INTO THE WASATCH PLATEAU AND EVEN ALONG THE I-15 CORRIDOR IN WEST CENTRAL UTAH. INSTABILITY TODAY WILL BE VERY GOOD UP TO 650 MB AND THEN INCREASE THIS EVENING TO 600 MB AS THE COLDEST AIR MASS ARRIVES...-21C AT 700 MB ACROSS THE GREAT SALT LAKE. DUE TO FLUFF AND FAVORED NORTHWEST FLOW THERE WILL BE MOUNTAIN SITES WITH SEVERAL INCHES OF NEW SNOW BY THIS EVENING. WILL CONSIDER ADVISORY LEVEL SNOW...NORTHERN RANGE THRU EARLY AFTERNOON AND SOUTHERN RANGE THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING...OR JUST LEAVE AS LOCAL LOW END ADVISORY LEVELS. UPDATED FOR HIGH WEATHER IN GRIDS ACROSS THE NORTH. COLD UPPER TROUGH IS FORECAST TO DIG ACROSS THE ROCKIES AND CAUSE MEAN FLOW TO BECOME NORTH TONIGHT. THIS KEEPS THE DEEPEST INSTABILITY TO OUR EAST. HOWEVER LAKE ENHANCED SNOW SQUALLS AND EVEN A SNOW BAND IS POSSIBLE BUT LIKELY TO AFFECT THE WEST SIDE OF THE SALT LAKE VALLEY AND INTO THE TOOELE VALLEY. THIS COULD ALSO DEVELOP OFF OF UTAH LAKE LATER TONIGHT INTO WEDNESDAY MORNING. THIS DIGGING TYPE OF SYSTEM SHOULD ALSO BRING STRONG WINDS TO SOUTHWEST UTAH GAPS TONIGHT AND WEDNESDAY. WILL CONSIDER HEADLINES FOR THIS AREA ON THE BACKSIDE OF THE UPPER TROUGH WHERE GUSTS OVER 60 MPH POSSIBLE. COLD AND MORE STABLE AIR MASS LINGERS ON WEDNESDAY...AND NORTHERN VALLEYS WILL STRUGGLE TO GET ABOVE 20F. WARM AIR ADVECTION SPREADS CLOUDS INTO NORTHERN UTAH FROM THE NORTH WEDNESDAY NIGHT. THIS WILL BRING SOME LIGHT SNOW TO THE FAR NORTHEAST MOUNTAINS INTO THURSDAY WHILE THE AIR MASS WARMS. WITH LARGE STRONG RIDGE ALONG THE WEST COAST AND CENTERED IN THE EASTERN PACIFIC THIS LEAVES NORTHERLY FLOW IN PLACE ACROSS UTAH INTO FRIDAY. NEXT SYSTEM DIVES AND CARVES DOWN FROM THE NORTH ACROSS THE GREAT BASIN...AND THE SLOW MOVEMENT OF THE UPPER TROUGH COULD ALLOW FOR AN ACTIVE BAROCLINIC ZONE STARTING SUNDAY AND LINGERING INTO MONDAY. LATEST GFS AND ECMWF TARGET I-80 CORRIDOR AND INTO SOUTHERN UTAH FOR BANDED HEAVY SNOWFALL FROM THIS SYSTEM...THOUGH DURATION AND INTENSITY UNCERTAIN AT THIS TIME. EVENTUALLY THE SYSTEM TAPS INTO DEEPER MOISTURE FROM THE SOUTH PER ECMWF. THIS WOULD BE COLD ENOUGH FOR ALL SNOW IN THE VALLEYS EXCEPT DIXIE WOULD BE A MIX. && .AVIATION...CEILINGS AT SLC TERMINAL ARE EXPECTED TO STAY AT OR BELOW 6000FT AGL THROUGH MOST OF TODAY. THERE IS A 30 PERCENT CHANCE THAT SNOW SHOWERS WILL IMPACT THE TERMINAL TODAY...WHICH WOULD BRING PERIODS OF MVFR OR IFR CONDITIONS. NORTHWEST WINDS WILL BE GUSTY AT TIMES...AND COULD POTENTIALLY GUST OVER 30 MPH BETWEEN 16 AND 20Z. && .SLC WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... UT...WIND ADVISORY TODAY FROM 6 AM UNTIL 4 PM TODAY FOR UTZ005. WY...NONE. && TARDY AVIATION...SCHOENING FOR MORE INFORMATION FROM NOAA/S NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE VISIT... HTTP://WEATHER.GOV/SALTLAKECITY (ALL LOWER CASE)
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SALT LAKE CITY UT 406 AM MST TUE JAN 15 2008 UTZ001>016-019>021-517-518-WYZ021-161200- CACHE VALLEY/UTAH PORTION-NORTHERN WASATCH FRONT- SALT LAKE AND TOOELE VALLEYS-SOUTHERN WASATCH FRONT- GREAT SALT LAKE DESERT AND MOUNTAINS-WASATCH MOUNTAIN VALLEYS- WASATCH MOUNTAINS I-80 NORTH-WASATCH MOUNTAINS SOUTH OF I-80- WESTERN UINTA MOUNTAINS-WASATCH PLATEAU/BOOK CLIFFS- WESTERN UINTA BASIN-CASTLE COUNTRY-SAN RAFAEL SWELL- SANPETE/SEVIER VALLEYS-WEST CENTRAL UTAH-SOUTHWEST UTAH- UTAHS DIXIE AND ZION NATIONAL PARK-SOUTH CENTRAL UTAH- GLEN CANYON RECREATION AREA/LAKE POWELL-CENTRAL MOUNTAINS- SOUTHERN MOUNTAINS-SOUTHWEST WYOMING- 406 AM MST TUE JAN 15 2008 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR THE WESTERN TWO THIRDS OF UTAH AND SOUTHWEST WYOMING. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT A COLD FRONT WILL SURGE THROUGH THE OUTLOOK AREA TODAY...USHERING MUCH COLDER AIR INTO THE REGION. ACCUMULATING SNOWS WILL BE POSSIBLE ACROSS THE HIGHER TERRAIN OF NORTHERN UTAH. ADDITIONALLY...WINDY CONDITIONS CAN BE EXPECTED ACROSS AREAS WEST OF INTERSTATE 15. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...WEDNESDAY THROUGH MONDAY A VERY COLD AIRMASS WILL REMAIN IN PLACE THROUGH WEDNESDAY. A WEAK STORM SYSTEM WILL BRING A CHANCE FOR SNOWFALL TO THE HIGHER TERRAIN OF NORTHERN UTAH WEDNESDAY NIGHT INTO EARLY THURSDAY. A STRONGER SYSTEM IS EXPECTED TO DROP INTO THE GREAT BASIN FOR THE LATTER HALF OF THE WEEKEND INTO EARLY NEXT WEEK. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... WEATHER SPOTTERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO REPORT SIGNIFICANT WEATHER CONDITIONS ACCORDING TO STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURES. FOR MORE INFORMATION FROM NOAA/S NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE VISIT... HTTP://WEATHER.GOV/SALTLAKECITY (ALL LOWER CASE)
1 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
Several sites across the Great Salt Lake Desert had measured wind gusts exceeding 58 mph behind the cold front, including a 79 mph wind gust at the Lakeside Mountain sensor.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Utah in 2008Every state in 2008This day in weather historyWarnings in Utah, January 2008
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: 76915.