Virga in the deserts of northwest Utah created strong gusty winds over a wide area throughout the afternoon of May 19th.
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.
Virga in the deserts of northwest Utah created strong gusty winds over a wide area throughout the afternoon of May 19th.
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 May 19, 3:16 PM MST, 3 hours 44 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SALT LAKE CITY UT 416 PM MDT TUE MAY 19 2009 .SYNOPSIS...AN UPPER LEVEL WEATHER DISTURBANCE WILL CLIP NORTHERN UTAH TONIGHT. A WEAK COLD FRONT WILL SLIDE SOUTH THROUGH NORTHERN UTAH WEDNESDAY. MOISTURE LINGERING ACROSS SOUTHERN AND CENTRAL UTAH WILL LEAD TO ADDITIONAL SHOWERS AND STORMS WEDNESDAY AND AGAIN THURSDAY. && .DISCUSSION...MOISTURE WORKING NORTH ACROSS UTAH HAS YIELDED SCATTERED CONVECTION THIS AFTERNOON. TWO ORGANIZED AREAS OF CONVECTION WERE NOTED...BOTH ASSOCIATED WITH VORTICITY MAXIMA OUT AHEAD OF THE TROUGH OVER THE PACIFIC NW. THE FIRST VORTICITY MAX MOVED INTO S/CNTRL UTAH LATE THIS MORNING. RAPID DEVELOPMENT ASSOCIATED WITH THIS FEATURE APPEARS TO HAVE LEVELED OFF AT MID-AFTERNOON. APPEARS THAT CONVECTION WILL THIN OUT EARLY THIS EVENING...WITH LITTLE OR NO ADDITIONAL DEVELOPMENT EXPECTED. THE MORE ACTIVE CONVECTION REMAINS ASSOCIATED WITH THE VORTICITY MAX MOVING E-NE THROUGH NE NV. DEEP CONVECTION BEGINNING TO SHOW UP ACROSS THE WASATCH FRONT AND OVER EXTREME NW UT LATE THIS AFTERNOON. SCATTERED ORGANIZED CONVECTION WILL CONTINUE THROUGH LATE EVENING AS THE VORTICITY MAX MOVES THROUGH NW UT...THEN TAPER OFF AS THE FEATURE EXITS THE AREA TO THE E-NE. A TRAILING COLD FRONT WILL PRESS SOUTH THROUGH NRN UTAH LATE TONIGHT/EARLY WEDNESDAY. COOL/STABLE AIR TRAILING THE FRONT SHOULD INHIBIT CONVECTIVE DEVELOPMENT WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON. MOISTURE STILL IN PLACE ACROSS SRN/ERN UTAH SHOULD FIRE UP CONVECTION AGAIN DURING THE AFTERNOON/EARLY EVENING...WITH SOME ORGANIZATION POSSIBLE ALONG THE 700 MB BAROCLINIC ZONE FROM NE THROUGH CNTRL UTAH. THE WESTERLIES WILL PRESS WELL NORTH OF THE GREAT BASIN LATE IN THE WEEK THROUGH THE COMING WEEKEND. WEAK FLOW ALOFT WILL KEEP THE ALREADY PRESENT MOISTURE FROM STRAYING TOO FAR FROM THE AREA THE NEXT SEVERAL DAYS. AT THE VERY LEAST DIURNAL MOUNTAIN CONVECTION WILL HANG INTO EARLY NEXT WEEK. MAY SEE SOME ORGANIZATION TO THE CONVECTION BEGINNING FRIDAY AS THE GFS/ECMWF BOTH SHOW A WEAK UPPER LOW HANGING AROUND THE SRN GREAT BASIN/DESERT SW INTO EARLY NEXT WEEK. TEMPS WILL LIKELY CLIMB AGAIN AT THE DAY 7 POINT AND BEYOND AS HIGH PRESSURE ALOFT STRENGTHENS ONCE AGAIN OVER THE INTERIOR WEST. && .AVIATION...THE WEATHER DISTURBANCE MOVING E-NE THROUGH NE NEVADA LATE THIS AFTERNOON WILL BRING SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS TO THE KSLC TERMINAL THROUGH AT LEAST 05Z. ONE LINE OF STORMS WILL MOVE THROUGH THE TERMINAL BETWEEN 22-23Z...PRODUCING STRONG/ERRATIC MICROBURST WINDS AND BRIEF CEILINGS NR 6KFT. THE NEXT BEST THREAT FOR SHOWERS/THUNDERSTORMS WILL COME BETWEEN 01-05Z AS THE WEATHER DISTURBANCE MOVES THROUGH NW UTAH. SIMILAR CONDITIONS OF GUSTY MICROBURST WINDS AND BRIEF SHOWERS WITH CEILINGS BRIEFLY BETWEEN 5-6KFT. SHOWERS/STORMS WILL MOVE OFF TO THE NORTH AND EAST OF THE TERMINAL AS THE WEATHER DISTURBANCE MOVES NE OF THE AREA AFTER 2300. && .FIRE WEATHER...MOISTURE THAT HAS BEEN WORKING NORTH THROUGH THE STATE THE PAST COUPLE OF DAYS HAS RESULTED IN SCATTERED SHOWERS AND STORMS THIS AFTERNOON. MOST OF THE ACTIVITY SO FAR HAS BEEN HIGH-BASED WITH STRONG/ERRATIC SURFACE WINDS AND LITTLE OR NO RAINFALL. SUSPECT THIS TREND WILL CONTINUE INTO THE EVENING...WITH MOST CONVECTION CONFINED TO NW UTAH AFTER 1800. COOLER AND MORE STABLE AIR SHOULD WORK SOUTH INTO NW UTAH WEDNESDAY. MOISTURE WILL REMAIN IN PLACE FOR THE SRN/ERN FIRE DISTRICTS WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON...LEADING TO ANOTHER ROUND OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS. LIGHT WINDS ALOFT MAY LEAD TO A FEW MOUNTAIN LOCATIONS RECEIVING WETTING RAINS BY WEDNESDAY EVENING. TEMPERATURES THE NEXT COUPLE OF DAYS WILL BE A BIT CLOSER TO NORMAL FOR THE NRN FIRE ZONES. DOWN SOUTH TEMPS WILL REMAIN WARM... THOUGH ANOTHER SURGE OF MOISTURE LATE IN THE WEEK WILL KEEP READINGS DOWN A BIT HEADING INTO THE WEEKEND. && .SLC WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... UT...HIGH WIND WARNING UNTIL 9 PM TUESDAY FOR UTZ005. WY...NONE. && CONGER 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 552 AM MDT TUE MAY 19 2009 UTZ001>016-019>021-517-518-WYZ021-201200- 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- 552 AM MDT TUE MAY 19 2009 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR THE WESTERN TWO THIRDS OF UTAH AND SOUTHWEST WYOMING. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS CAN BE EXPECTED THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING IN ADVANCE OF A PACIFIC STORM SYSTEM MOVING TOWARD THE REGION. WITH THE APPROACH OF THIS SYSTEM...MOISTURE AND WINDS WILL BE ON THE INCREASE...CREATING FAVORABLE CONDITIONS FOR ISOLATED SEVERE STORMS...ESPECIALLY ACROSS NORTHERN UTAH AND EXTREME SOUTHWEST WYOMING. DAMAGING WINDS WILL BE THE PRIMARY SEVERE WEATHER THREAT. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...WEDNESDAY THROUGH MONDAY AS A SOMEWHAT MOIST AIRMASS REMAINS IN PLACE OVER THE REGION...THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE IN THE FORECAST EACH DAY. THE BEST CHANCE FOR STORMS WILL BE ACROSS THE HIGHER TERRAIN AREAS OF SOUTHERN AND EASTERN UTAH. .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)
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SALT LAKE CITY UT
234 PM MDT TUE MAY 19 2009
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0232 PM NON-TSTM WND GST 13 WNW DUGWAY 40.28N 112.98W
05/19/2009 M69 MPH TOOELE UT MESONET
&&
CKRUSEPRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SALT LAKE CITY UT
234 PM MDT TUE MAY 19 2009
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0200 PM NON-TSTM WND GST 13 WNW DUGWAY 40.28N 112.98W
05/19/2009 M69 MPH TOOELE UT MESONET
&&
CKRUSEPRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SALT LAKE CITY UT
253 PM MDT TUE MAY 19 2009
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0240 PM NON-TSTM WND GST 16 NW DUGWAY 40.37N 113.00W
05/19/2009 M68 MPH TOOELE UT MESONET
&&
CKRUSEPRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SALT LAKE CITY UT
525 PM MDT TUE MAY 19 2009
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0510 PM NON-TSTM WND GST 27 WSW DUGWAY 40.05N 113.21W
05/19/2009 M65.00 MPH TOOELE UT MESONET
&&
ESPRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SALT LAKE CITY UT
542 PM MDT TUE MAY 19 2009
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0530 PM NON-TSTM WND GST 13 SW DUGWAY 40.12N 112.95W
05/19/2009 M69.00 MPH TOOELE UT MESONET
&&
ES1 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
Virga, which was not producing any lightning, created gusty winds across the West Desert. Recorded wind gusts included 69 mph at Lower Cedar Mountain, 69 mph at Camel Back Mountain, 68 mph at Upper Cedar Mountain, and 65 mph at Callao Gate.
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, May 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: 170375.