A cold Pacific storm system moved through Utah in the first week of November. This storm brought heavy snow to parts of northern Utah, as well as isolated gusty winds to parts of central and southern Utah.
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 cold Pacific storm system moved through Utah in the first week of November. This storm brought heavy snow to parts of northern Utah, as well as isolated gusty winds to parts of central and southern Utah.
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 Nov 3, 8:54 PM MST, 7 hours 14 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SALT LAKE CITY UT 954 PM MDT THU NOV 3 2011 .SYNOPSIS...SOUTHERLY FLOW WILL CONTINUE ACROSS THE REGION THROUGH FRIDAY...BEFORE A COLD PACIFIC STORM SYSTEM CROSSES THE AREA LATE FRIDAY INTO SATURDAY. A SECOND SYSTEM LOOKS TO IMPACT THE GREAT BASIN SUNDAY INTO SUNDAY NIGHT. && .DISCUSSION...A STRONG SOUTHWEST FLOW ALOFT WILL CONTINUE OVER UTAH TONIGHT AS AN UPPER LEVEL TROUGH CONTINUES TO MAKE ITS WAY ONTO THE WEST COAST. ALTHOUGH WINDS FAILED TO FULLY MIX DOWN ACROSS MANY OF THE VALLEY AREAS THIS AFTERNOON...A DECENT SURFACE GRADIENT DID RESULT IN BREEZY CONDITIONS WHICH WILL CONTINUE IN MANY OF THE WESTERN VALLEYS OVERNIGHT. THE COMBINATION OF THE WINDS AND HIGH CLOUDS MOVING ACROSS THE AREA AHEAD OF THE TROUGH WILL KEEP OVERNIGHT MIN TEMPERATURES WARMER THAN THOSE OBSERVED LAST NIGHT. THE TROUGH IS ALREADY INDICATING THAT IT WILL SPLIT...CONSISTENT WITH MODEL FORECASTS. THIS WILL TAKE THE BULK OF ITS ENERGY ACROSS ARIZONA AND SOUTHERN UTAH. HOWEVER...THE REST OF THE FORECAST AREA SHOULD STILL SEE A DECENT COLD FRONT WHICH WILL RESULT IN FAIRLY WIDESPREAD PRECIPITATION ACROSS THE AREA WITH SNOW DOWN TO THE VALLEY FLOOR IN MANY AREAS. THE NAM CONTINUES TO MAINTAIN A SLIGHTLY FASTER PROGRESSION OF THE STORM. HOWEVER...DUE TO THE SPLITTING NATURE OF THE TROUGH...PREFER THE SLOWER GFS/EC SOLUTIONS. THIS TIMING WOULD TAKE THE NEARLY NORTH-SOUTH-ORIENTED SURFACE COLD FRONT INTO WESTERN UTAH BY EARLY TOMORROW AFTERNOON...THROUGH THE WASATCH FRONT EARLY IN THE EVENING AND INTO EASTERN UTAH BY MIDNIGHT. EXPECT SHOWERS TO DEVELOP IN THE WARM SECTOR IN THE AFTERNOON...BUT MOST OF THE PRECIPITATION WILL FALL BEHIND THE FRONT...INTENSIFYING ALONG THE 700MB BAROCLINIC ZONE WHICH WILL LAG A FEW HOURS BEHIND THE SURFACE FRONT. PRECIPITATION IS EXPECTED TO BEGIN AS RAIN IN MOST VALLEY AREAS. SNOW LEVELS SHOULD THEN PLUMMET QUICKLY WITH ARRIVAL OF THE BAROCLINIC ZONE DURING THE EVENING ACROSS WESTERN UTAH AND CLOSER TO MIDNIGHT ALONG THE WASATCH FRONT. ACCUMULATIONS CAN BE EXPECTED...GIVEN THAT THE HIGHEST SNOWFALL INTENSITIES WILL OCCUR DURING THE NIGHTTIME HOURS. THE FRONTAL BAND SHOULD MOVE OUT OF THE AREA BY LATE SATURDAY NIGHT/EARLY SATURDAY MORNING. HOWEVER...IT WILL LEAVE BEHIND A COOL...MOIST AND SOMEWHAT UNSTABLE AIRMASS. EXPECT TO SEE SOME OROGRAPHIC PRECIPITATION CONTINUE THROUGH AROUND MIDDAY SATURDAY BEFORE GRADUALLY TAPERING OFF. THERE REMAINS A POTENTIAL FOR LAKE-EFFECT SNOW SATURDAY MORNING WHICH COULD ADD SOME ADDITIONAL SNOW LOCALLY TO AREAS EAST-SOUTHEAST OF THE GREAT SALT LAKE. OUTSIDE OF ANY LAKE-EFFECT...SNOW ACCUMULATIONS IN MOST VALLEY AREAS SHOULD REMAIN RELATIVELY LIGHT...GENERALLY LESS THAN 2 INCHES. MOUNTAINS SHOULD SEE AROUND 8-12 INCHES...ENOUGH TO WARRANT AN ADVISORY...AND WILL LET THE MIDNIGHT SHIFT CONSIDER THIS AFTER RE-EVALUATING SNOW AMOUNTS FOR THE MORNING PACKAGE. SHORTWAVE RIDGING WILL OCCUR LATE SATURDAY THROUGH EARLY SUNDAY BEFORE THE NEXT SYSTEM MOVES INTO THE AREA. LATEST MODELS INDICATE THAT THIS SYSTEM WILL HAVE MANY SIMILAR CHARACTERISTICS TO TOMORROWS STORM...SO AGAIN EXPECT THE POTENTIAL FOR WIDESPREAD PRECIPITATION WITH SNOW IN THE VALLEYS...ALTHOUGH THE BULK OF THE ENERGY WILL REMAIN SOUTH OF THE AREA. NO UPDATES THIS EVENING. && .AVIATION...THE SLC TERMINAL WILL SEE VFR CONDITIONS THROUGH THE MORNING WITH INCREASING HIGH AND MID-LEVEL CLOUDINESS. OCCASIONALLY GUSTY SOUTHERLY WINDS ARE EXPECTED TO CONTINUE THROUGH THE NIGHT...WITH OCCASIONAL GUSTS ABOVE 30 MPH OCCURRING PRIMARILY BEFORE 06Z. && .SLC WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... UT...WIND ADVISORY UNTIL 3 PM MDT FRIDAY FOR UTZ015-016. WY...NONE. && CHENG/TRAPHAGAN FOR MORE INFORMATION FROM NOAA/S NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE VISIT... HTTP://WEATHER.GOV/SALTLAKECITY (ALL LOWER CASE) FOR FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS ABOUT THE AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION VISIT... HTTP://WEATHER.GOV/SALTLAKECITY/GENERAL/AFD_FAQS.PHP (ALL LOWER CASE)
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SALT LAKE CITY UT 633 AM MDT THU NOV 3 2011 UTZ001>016-019>021-517-518-WYZ021-041300- 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- 633 AM MDT THU NOV 3 2011 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR THE WESTERN TWO THIRDS OF UTAH AND SOUTHWEST WYOMING. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT GUSTY SOUTH WINDS ARE EXPECTED ACROSS THE MOUNTAINS AND WESTERN VALLEYS OF THE OUTLOOK AREA TODAY THROUGH TONIGHT. THE STRONGEST WINDS WILL IMPACT THE SOUTHWEST VALLEYS THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...FRIDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY THE GUSTY SOUTH WINDS WILL CONTINUE ACROSS THE WESTERN OUTLOOK AREA FRIDAY AND SPREAD INTO THE EAST DURING THE DAY. A COLD FRONT WILL BRING FAIRLY WIDESPREAD PRECIPITATION TO THE OUTLOOK AREA BEGINNING FRIDAY EVENING AND CONTINUING INTO SATURDAY MORNING BEFORE TAPERING OFF. SIGNIFICANT SNOW AMOUNTS ARE POSSIBLE FOR ALL MOUNTAIN AREAS. RAIN AND SNOW IN THE VALLEYS WILL CHANGE OVER TO ALL SNOW BY SATURDAY MORNING WITH ACCUMULATING SNOWFALL POSSIBLE ACROSS MOST VALLEY LOCATIONS EXCLUDING UTAHS DIXIE AND LAKE POWELL. LAKE EFFECT SNOW COULD DEVELOP TO THE EAST AND SOUTHEAST OF THE GREAT SALT LAKE EARLY SATURDAY. ANY ACCUMULATING VALLEY SNOWFALL WILL HAVE THE POTENTIAL TO CAUSE DAMAGE TO TREES AND POWER LINES...GIVEN THAT MANY TREES STILL HAVE THEIR LEAVES. A TRAILING STORM COULD BRING ADDITIONAL SNOWFALL TO THE OUTLOOK AREA SUNDAY AFTERNOON THROUGH MIDDAY MONDAY. .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)
2 high wind, 1 winter storm. Local standard time, as filed.
The Signal Peak RAWS recorded strong winds for several hours, with a maximum wind gust of 91 mph.
With strong prefrontal winds on the morning of November 4th, the Cedar City ASOS recorded a maximum wind gust of 59 mph.
A cold front moved through the Salt Lake Valley, followed by lake effect snow through the morning of November 5th. Snowfall accumulations across the area included 9 inches of new snow in Cottonwood Heights, 8 inches of snow in Upper Millcreek, and 7 inches in both Sandy and the Upper Avenues.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Utah in 2011Every state in 2011This day in weather historyWarnings in Utah, November 2011
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: 354186, 354187, 354188.