A deepening storm system moving across the Great Basin brought strong, gusty pre-frontal winds. Winds were strongest in the west deserts of Utah, as well as along the Wasatch Range.
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 deepening storm system moving across the Great Basin brought strong, gusty pre-frontal winds. Winds were strongest in the west deserts of Utah, as well as along the Wasatch Range.
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 2, 9:01 PM MST, 6 hours 44 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SALT LAKE CITY UT 901 PM MST MON MAR 2 2009 .SYNOPSIS...A MILD AND MOIST SOUTHWESTERLY FLOW WILL REMAIN OVER THE GREAT BASIN THROUGH MIDWEEK. THE NEXT COLD FRONT WILL CROSS NORTHERN UT LATE WEDNESDAY. && .DISCUSSION...EVENING WATER VAPOR IMAGERY DEPICTS DEEP LAYER SOUTHWESTERLY FLOW EXTENDING THROUGHOUT MUCH OF THE INTERIOR WEST. A CONVEYOR BELT OF SUBTROPICAL MOISTURE IS EMBEDDED WITHIN THIS SOUTHWESTERLY FLOW...BUT IS PRIMARILY CONFINED TO THE MID AND UPPER LEVELS ACROSS UT BASED ON REGIONAL 00Z SOUNDINGS. SHORTWAVE TROUGH WHICH BROUGHT SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS TO NORTHERN NV EARLIER HAS LIFTED NORTHWARD INTO CENTRAL ID/EASTERN OR. IN THE WAKE OF THIS FEATURE MID LEVEL DRYING IS NOTED IN REGIONAL WV IMAGERY ACROSS MUCH OF NORTHERN NV. BOTH NAM AND GFS SUGGEST MEAN LONGWAVE TROUGH TO SAG INLAND A BIT OVERNIGHT...ALLOWING THIS DRYING TO SPREAD EAST ACROSS NORTHERN UT...WHILE BELT OF SUBTROPICAL MOISTURE SHIFTS SOUTH AND EAST. AS SUCH PLAN TO REMOVE SLIGHT CHANCE WORDING ACROSS VALLEYS OF WESTERN UT OVERNIGHT. OTHERWISE PRESSURE FALLS THIS AFTERNOON ASSOCIATED WITH AFOREMENTIONED SHORTWAVE ALLOWED SHALLOW INVERSION LAYER ALONG THE VALLEY FLOORS OF THE WASATCH FRONT TO MIX OUT ACROSS MOST LOCATIONS. THIS ALLOWED TEMPERATURES TO SPIKE INTO THE LOW 60S EVEN ALONG THE VALLEY FLOORS. SOUTHERLY GRADIENT OVERNIGHT SHOULD MAINTAIN A FAIRLY WELL MIXED AIRMASS ACROSS MOST LOCATIONS...AND WILL UPDATE TO BUMP TEMPS ALONG MOST OF THE WASATCH FRONT OVERNIGHT. GIVEN DRY AIR ALOFT FORECAST TO RESIDE ACROSS MUCH OF THE FORECAST AREA TUESDAY...SUSPECT ANOTHER WINDY AND MILD DAY IS IN STORE FOR MOST LOCATIONS...WITH PERHAPS IN INCREASE IN SUNSHINE. MAY SEE A FEW LOCATIONS ACROSS WESTERN VALLEYS APPROACH OR EVEN BRIEFLY EXCEED WIND GUST CRITERIA. THE NEXT THREAT FOR ORGANIZED PRECIPITATION LOOKS TO HOLD OFF UNTIL LATE IN THE DAY WEDNESDAY AT THE EARLIEST ACROSS NORTHERN UT. 00Z GFS...ALONG WITH THE 12Z EC...CONTINUES TO PUSH A COLD FRONT THROUGH NORTHERN UT DURING THE AFTERNOON HOURS WEDNESDAY...WHILE THE 00Z NAM LAGS IN TIMING BY ABOUT 6 HOURS. 700MB TEMPS AT OR BELOW -8C BEHIND THE FRONT SHOULD BE COLD ENOUGH TO ALLOW SNOW LEVELS TO FALL TO THE VALLEY FLOORS BY WEDNESDAY NIGHT. && .AVIATION...SOUTHERLY WINDS ARE EXPECTED AT THE SLC TERMINAL THROUGH TONIGHT. ALTHOUGH SOUTHERLY WINDS ARE FORECAST FOR TUESDAY THERE REMAINS A 40 PERCENT CHANCE THAT SURFACE WINDS WILL SHIFT TO NORTHERLY BY 20-22Z DUE TO PRECIPITATION BREAKING OUT ACROSS NORTHERN PORTIONS OF UTAH. OTHERWISE...VFR CONDITIONS WILL CONTINUE THROUGHOUT THE FORECAST PERIOD. && .SLC WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... UT...NONE. WY...NONE. && SEAMAN/STRUTHWOLF 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 510 AM MST MON MAR 2 2009 UTZ001>016-019>021-517-518-WYZ021-031300- 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- 510 AM MST MON MAR 2 2009 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR THE WESTERN TWO THIRDS OF UTAH AND SOUTHWEST WYOMING. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT STRONG SOUTHWEST WINDS WILL CONTINUE ALONG RIDGELINES TODAY AND TONIGHT. IN THE VALLEYS...SOUTHWEST WINDS WILL ALSO INCREASE AND BECOME GUSTY...MAINLY OVER WESTERN UTAH. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY AS A STORM SYSTEM APPROACHES FROM THE WEST...SOUTHWEST WINDS WILL CONTINUE TO INCREASE ACROSS THE REGION. THESE WINDS COULD APPROACH HAZARD LEVELS IN THE WESTERN VALLEYS TUESDAY AND IN SOUTHWEST UTAH WEDNESDAY. A COLD FRONT WILL ENTER NORTHERN UTAH WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON AND BRING ACCUMULATING SNOWFALL TO MAINLY THE NORTHERN MOUNTAINS THROUGH THURSDAY. .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)
5 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
The Salt Lake and Tooele valleys experienced scattered severe wind gusts through this period, including gusts of 72 mph and 62 mph at Vernon Hill, and 59 mph at the Great Salt Lake Marina. A few large trees were also knocked down in Salt Lake county.
Scattered severe wind gust reports occurred over the period of a couple days, including 88 mph at Ogden Peak and 82 mph at Snowbasin-Straw Top.
Maximum measured wind gusts included 77 mph at Cardiff Peak and 81 mph at Sundance Arrowhead. In addition, the winds also derailed cables from a support tower pulley system on the Peruvian lift at Snowbird, prompting the evacuation of 89 patrons as the lift automatically shut down.
Measured wind gusts included 63 mph at the Upper Cedar Mountain and Camel Back Mountain sensors, 60 mph at the English Village sensor, and 59 mph at the Simpson Springs sensor. In addition, two semitrailers were toppled on Interstate 80.
The Milford Airport ASOS measured a wind gust of 58 mph.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Utah in 2009Every state in 2009This day in weather historyWarnings in Utah, March 2009
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: 161750, 161753, 161758, 161759, 161760.