A strong cold front moved through Utah on April 11th, initiating showers and gusty winds. Strong winds were observed both ahead of and behind the cold front.
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 moved through Utah on April 11th, initiating showers and gusty winds. Strong winds were observed both ahead of and behind the cold front.
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 Apr 11, 9:19 AM MST, 4 hours 36 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SALT LAKE CITY UT
1019 AM MDT WED APR 11 2012
.SYNOPSIS...A PACIFIC STORM SYSTEM WILL MAKE ITS WAY THROUGH THE
FORECAST AREA BEGINNING LATER TODAY. A COOL...MOIST...AND UNSTABLE
PATTERN WILL CONTINUE INTO EARLY NEXT WEEK.
&&
.DISCUSSION...SOUTHERLY FLOW INCREASING OVER THE FORECAST AREA
THIS MORNING AS THE TROUGH OVER SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA MAKES ITS WAY
NORTHEASTWARD. AHEAD OF THE TROUGH...GUSTS IN EXCESS OF 40 MPH ARE
BEING OBSERVED OVER PORTIONS OF SOUTHERN UTAH...AND THE WINDS WILL
ONLY INCREASE THIS AFTERNOON AS THE PRESSURE GRADIENT TIGHTENS.
THE TROUGH WILL MAKE ITS WAY INTO SOUTHERN UTAH LATE THIS
AFTERNOON AND INTO THE NORTHEAST CORNER OF THE STATE
OVERNIGHT...SPREADING MOISTURE AND INSTABILITY ACROSS THE ENTIRE
FORECAST AREA. BEST SHOT OF PRECIP WILL BE WITH THE INITIAL WAVE
THIS EVENING...BUT GENERAL TROUGHINESS WILL KEEP SHOWERS GOING
THURSDAY AND FRIDAY.
THE FRONTAL BOUNDARY IS NOT PARTICULARLY WELL DEFINED WITH THIS
SYSTEM...BUT COLDER AIR WILL RAPIDLY MOVE ACROSS THE STATE
TODAY...DROPPING 700 MB TEMPS FROM THE +4C TO +6C RANGE TO AROUND
-6C. THIS WILL DROP TEMPS TO UP TO 5F BELOW SEASONAL NORMS...BUT
GIVEN THE RECENT RECORD WARMTH...THIS SHOULD BE A PRETTY BIG
CHANGE.
A SECOND TROUGH IS EXPECTED TO PUSH ITS WAY THROUGH SOUTHERN UTAH
FRIDAY NIGHT THROUGH SUNDAY...BRINGING A REINFORCING SHOT OF COLD
AIR AND ENHANCING PRECIPITATION...AT LEAST OVER THE SOUTH. HIGH
PRESSURE IS PROGGED TO RETURN FOR EARLY NEXT WEEK.
NO UPDATES EXPECTED TO THE FORECAST THIS MORNING.
&&
.AVIATION...SURFACE WINDS AT THE SLC TERMINAL WILL CONTINUE TO
INCREASE THROUGH TODAY...WITH GUSTS EXCEEDING 30 MPH BETWEEN 16Z AND
18Z. SHOWERS WILL BEGIN TO FILL IN ACROSS THE AREA THIS
AFTERNOON...PARTICULARLY ALONG THE HIGHER TERRAIN...WITH A SLIGHT
CHANCE OF LIGHTNING AT THE TERMINAL BETWEEN 20Z TODAY AND 03Z
THURSDAY. GUSTY ERRATIC WINDS COULD ACCOMPANY STRONGER SHOWERS.
CEILINGS WILL LIKELY LOWER TO BELOW 7000FT BETWEEN 22Z TODAY AND 05Z
THURSDAY.
&&
.SLC WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
UT...WIND ADVISORY UNTIL 10 PM MDT THIS EVENING FOR
UTZ003>005-013>016-019>021.
WY...NONE.
&&
PUBLIC...TRAPHAGAN
AVIATION...SCHOENING
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)3 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
Peak wind gusts across the Great Salt Lake Desert included 82 mph at Diddle Knoll, 65 mph at Gunnison Island, 64 mph at the I-80 at Grassey sensor, 61 mph at Callao Gate, and 60 mph at the Utah Test and Training Range Thermal Treatment Unit.
The Delta Bus Garage sensor recorded maximum wind gusts of 60 mph a couple of times through the day.
Peak wind gusts across the Salt Lake and Tooele valleys included 65 mph at Vernon Hill and 60 mph at the Great Salt Lake Marina sensor.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Utah in 2012Every state in 2012This day in weather historyWarnings in Utah, April 2012
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: 378574, 378575, 378576.