A fast-moving weather disturbance brought valley rain and mountain snow to much of Utah. The heaviest precipitation was observed in the southern half of Utah, with heavy snow observed in the central and southern mountains of the state.
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 fast-moving weather disturbance brought valley rain and mountain snow to much of Utah. The heaviest precipitation was observed in the southern half of Utah, with heavy snow observed in the central and southern mountains of the state.
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 13, 8:37 AM MST, 1 hour 23 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SALT LAKE CITY UT 937 AM MDT FRI APR 13 2012 .SYNOPSIS...A COLD UPPER LEVEL LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM ALONG THE WEST COAST WILL SETTLE INTO THE SOUTHERN GREAT BASIN OVER THE WEEKEND. COOL AND UNSETTLED CONDITIONS WILL EXIST THIS WEEKEND...ESPECIALLY ACROSS THE SOUTHERN HALF OF UTAH. WEAK HIGH PRESSURE ALOFT WILL RETURN ON MONDAY. && .DISCUSSION...A BROAD TROUGH REMAINS OVER MUCH OF THE WESTERN CONUS THIS MORNING...WITH THE MAIN PART OF THE SYSTEM AND SURFACE LOW STILL LINGERING OVER CALIFORNIA AND WESTERN NEVADA. IN UTAH AND SOUTHWEST WYOMING...MOSTLY CLOUDY SKIES CONTINUE ACROSS MUCH OF THE AREA THIS MORNING...WITH THE EXCEPTION OF THE NORTHERN THIRD OF THE CWA THAT HAS ENJOYED SOME SUNNY TO PARTLY CLOUDY SKIES THIS MORNING...WHICH IS THE RESULT OF SOME SUBSIDENCE BEHIND A WAVE THAT MOVED THROUGH NORTHERN UTAH OVERNIGHT. HOWEVER...INSTABILITY SHOULD REDEVELOP THIS AFTERNOON ACROSS MUCH OF THE AREA...LIKELY RESULTING IN SHOWERS AND A CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS...PARTICULARLY ACROSS THE HIGHER TERRAIN. BOTH THE UPPER LEVEL LOW AND THE SURFACE LOW ARE FORECAST TO TRACK THROUGH CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN UTAH TONIGHT THROUGH SATURDAY MORNING...BRINGING WIDESPREAD PRECIPITATION TO THE CWA...WITH THE HEAVIEST PRECIP FOCUSED IN THE SOUTHERN HALF OF UTAH. THE GOING WINTER STORM WARNING STILL LOOKS GOOD...WITH THE SOUTHERN MOUNTAINS LIKELY TO DO PARTICULARLY WELL WITH REGARDS TO SNOWFALL. SHOWERS WILL LIKELY LINGER THROUGH SATURDAY NIGHT BEFORE THE STORM EXITS THE AREA SUNDAY AND SHORTWAVE RIDGING BUILDS FOR THE BEGINNING OF THE NEXT WORK WEEK. THE FORECAST WAS UPDATED EARLIER THIS MORNING...GENERALLY TO DECREASE POPS FOR TODAY...PARTICULARLY DURING THE MORNING HOURS AS THE AREA EXPERIENCES A BREAK BETWEEN WAVES. OTHERWISE...THE FORECAST FOR TODAY LOOKS FINE...AND NO FURTHER UPDATES ARE PLANNED FOR THIS MORNING. && .AVIATION...SURFACE WINDS AT THE SLC TERMINAL ARE GENERALLY EXPECTED TO REMAIN SOUTHERLY THROUGH TODAY...WITH A 20 PERCENT CHANCE OF GUSTS GREATER THAN 30 MPH. SHOWERS AND A FEW THUNDERSTORMS WILL DEVELOP ACROSS THE STATE TODAY...WITH THE MOST LIKELY IMPACTS TO THE TERMINAL BEING GUSTY ERRATIC WINDS NEAR SHOWERS AND BRIEF MODERATE TO HEAVY RAINFALL. CEILINGS WILL LOWER THIS AFTERNOON AS SHOWERS DEVELOP...BUT THERE IS A 30 PERCENT CHANCE THAT CEILINGS WILL REMAIN ABOVE 7000FT EXCEPT WHEN DIRECTLY UNDER RAIN SHOWERS. && .SLC WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... UT...WINTER STORM WARNING UNTIL 6 AM MDT SUNDAY FOR UTZ517-518. WY...NONE. && 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)
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SALT LAKE CITY UT 645 AM MDT FRI APR 13 2012 UTZ001>016-019>021-517-518-WYZ021-141200- 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- 645 AM MDT FRI APR 13 2012 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR THE WESTERN TWO THIRDS OF UTAH AND SOUTHWEST WYOMING. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT THE STORM SYSTEM ALONG THE WEST COAST THIS MORNING WILL SETTLE INTO SOUTHERN NEVADA TONIGHT. AHEAD OF THIS STORM SHOWERS WILL INCREASE ACROSS WESTERN AND SOUTHERN UTAH BEGINNING LATE THIS MORNING. THUNDERSTORMS WILL ALSO DEVELOP FOR THIS AFTERNOON THROUGH THIS EVENING. ACCUMULATING SNOWFALL WILL ARRIVE ACROSS THE SOUTHERN AND CENTRAL MOUNTAINS THIS AFTERNOON. SEVERAL INCHES OF SNOW ARE EXPECTED IN THESE MOUNTAINS...WITH HEAVY SNOW BEGINNING TONIGHT. A WINTER STORM WARNING HAS BEEN ISSUED FOR THE SOUTHERN AND CENTRAL BEGINNING THIS AFTERNOON. THE NORTHERN MOUNTAINS WILL ALSO SEE SNOW RETURN BY THIS AFTERNOON. ACCUMULATIONS WILL LIKELY BE MINIMAL UNTIL THE LATE AFTERNOON THROUGH OVERNIGHT HOURS. PRECIPITATION IN THE VALLEY WILL GENERALLY BE IN THE FORM OF RAIN TODAY. THIS RAIN WILL BEGIN TO CHANGE OVER TO SNOW AT SOME OF THE HIGHER VALLEY LOCATIONS TONIGHT...WITH SOME ACCUMULATION POSSIBLE OVERNIGHT. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SATURDAY THROUGH THURSDAY WIDESPREAD PRECIPITATION WILL CONTINUE MUCH OF THE WEEKEND AS THE STORM SYSTEM SLOWLY TRACKS EAST ACROSS NORTHERN ARIZONA. PERIODS OF HEAVY SNOW WILL CONTINUE ACROSS THE SOUTHERN HALF OF THE STATE THROUGH SATURDAY NIGHT...THEN GRADUALLY TAPER OFF SUNDAY. THE WINTER STORM WARNING WILL REMAIN IN EFFECT FOR THE SOUTHERN AND CENTRAL MOUNTAINS THROUGH SATURDAY NIGHT. THE NORTHEAST UTAH MOUNTAINS MAY ALSO SEE A PERIOD OF HEAVY SNOW ON SATURDAY. ACCUMULATIONS ARE NOT EXPECTED TO BE A GREAT AS ACROSS THE SOUTH...THOUGH ENOUGH SNOW IS POSSIBLE TO CREATE HAZARDOUS TRAVEL CONDITIONS THROUGH THE AREA. MANY HIGHER SOUTHERN AND CENTRAL VALLEY LOCATIONS WILL SEE RAIN CHANGE OVER TO SNOW BY SATURDAY. SIGNIFICANT ACCUMULATIONS ARE POSSIBLE ACROSS PORTIONS OF SOUTHERN UTAH THROUGH SATURDAY EVENING. SNOW WILL DECREASE IN INTENSITY AND AREAL COVERAGE ON SUNDAY. ANY LINGERING SNOW SHOWERS SHOULD END ACROSS THE FORECAST AREA SUNDAY EVENING. HIGH PRESSURE WILL RETURN MONDAY...FOLLOWED BY A MILD WESTERLY FLOW FOR THE BALANCE OF THE UPCOMING 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) FOR INFORMATION ON POTENTIAL TRAVEL IMPACTS VISIT... HTTP://WWW.COMMUTERLINK.UTAH.GOV/ROADWEATHERFORECAST.ASPX
2 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.
The Kolob SNOTEL received 1.60 inches of liquid equivalent precipitation, or approximately 21 inches of new snow.
The Pine Creek SNOTEL received 1.60 inches of liquid equivalent precipitation, or approximately 18 inches of new snow.
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: 378578, 378577.