Another quick-hitting winter storm moved through the state of Utah on February 25th. While snowfall was relatively light, winds were quite strong in many parts of the northern half of 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.
Another quick-hitting winter storm moved through the state of Utah on February 25th. While snowfall was relatively light, winds were quite strong in many parts of the northern half of 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 Feb 24, 8:27 PM MST, 7 hours 33 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SALT LAKE CITY UT 827 PM MST FRI FEB 24 2012 .SYNOPSIS...HIGH PRESSURE WILL MOVE EAST OF THE AREA TONIGHT AHEAD OF THE NEXT PACIFIC STORM THAT WILL CROSS THE STATE TOMORROW. A SERIES OF STORM SYSTEMS WILL FOLLOW FOR THE COMING WEEK. && .DISCUSSION...SKIES ARE CLEAR ACROSS THE CWA UNDER A SHORT WAVE RIDGE THIS EVENING. THIS RIDGE WILL MOVE RAPIDLY EAST OVERNIGHT AS THE VIGOROUS SHORT WAVE TROF NOW MOVING INTO THE PACNW SHIFTS INTO THE NRN ROCKIES. THIS WAVE IS STILL FORECAST TO SLIDE BY MAINLY TO OUR NORTH WITH JUST THE LOWER LEVEL COLD AIR SURGING INTO THE CWA BEHIND THE COLD FRONT. THIS FRONT LOOKS TO CROSS THE NRN CWA IN THE MORNING THEN REACHING THE SOUTHERN CWA BY EVE. THE NEW NAM IS QUITE DRY WITH THIS SYSTEM AND THIS IS NOT UNREASONABLE AS THE BEST LIFT SHOULD STAY TO OUR NORTH WITH THE MID LEVEL COLD POOL AND THE SYSTEM IS CURRENTLY NOT TERRIBLY MOIST AS IT MOVES ASHORE. SO CHANCE POPS FOR THE VALLEYS OTHER THAN THE CACHE SEEM ABOUT RIGHT AND ADVISORY SNOW AMOUNTS COULD BE HARD TO ACHIEVE IN THE MTNS. THE WINDS WILL BE THE MAIN WEATHER STORY WITH THIS TROF BUT THE NEW 00Z NAM STILL INDICATES POST FRONTAL SURFACE WIND SPEEDS WILL REMAIN BELOW WARNING LEVELS ACROSS THE NORTHWEST DESERTS AND MAY EVEN BE MARGINAL FOR AN ADVISORY. SUSPECT THIS IS SOMEWHAT UNDERDONE BUT IT UNDERMINES MY CONFIDENCE TO HOIST A WIND HIGHLIGHT AT THIS TIME. SHOWERY PRECIP LINGERS INTO SAT NIGHT THEN ENDS AFTER MIDNIGHT AS THE TROF MOVES EAST AND THE UPSTREAM SHORT WAVE RIDGE MOVES IN. NEXT PAC TROF STILL DIGS DOWN THE COAST AND PHASES WITH A WAVE FROM WRN CANADA BEFORE CLOSING OFF INTO A LOW SOMEWHERE OVER THE GREAT BASIN ON MON. NO UPDATES PLANNED AT THIS TIME. && .AVIATION...SOUTHERLY WINDS WILL CONTINUE AT THE SLC TERMINAL THROUGH THE NIGHT. A COLD FRONT IS EXPECTED TO CROSS THE TERMINAL BETWEEN 17-19Z SATURDAY. A PERIOD OF GUSTY NORTHWEST WINDS IS EXPECTED BEHIND THE FRONT. A BRIEF PERIOD OF SNOW WILL BE POSSIBLE NEAR THE FRONT. && .SLC WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... UT...NONE. WY...NONE. && WILENSKY/KRUSE 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 328 PM MST FRI FEB 24 2012 UTZ001>016-019>021-517-518-WYZ021-251300- 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- 328 PM MST FRI FEB 24 2012 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR THE WESTERN TWO THIRDS OF UTAH AND SOUTHWEST WYOMING. .DAY ONE...THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SATURDAY THROUGH THURSDAY THE NEXT COLD PACIFIC STORM SYSTEM WILL REACH UTAH SATURDAY. THE ASSOCIATED COLD FRONT WILL ENTER NORTHWEST UTAH EARLY SATURDAY...THEN SWEEP EAST THROUGH THE STATE BY SATURDAY EVENING. A SHORT PERIOD OF STEADY SNOW MAY FORM ALONG AND BEHIND THE FRONT ACROSS THE NORTHERN THIRD OF UTAH AND SOUTHWEST WYOMING. SCATTERED SNOW SHOWERS WILL REACH CENTRAL UTAH BY AFTERNOON... WITH LITTLE IN THE WAY OF SHOWERS FOR SOUTHERN UTAH. GUSTY SOUTHWEST WINDS IMMEDIATELY AHEAD OF THE COLD FRONT WILL TURN TO THE NORTHWEST AND BECOME STRONG ACROSS THE NORTHWEST MOUNTAINS AND VALLEYS...AND OVER PORTIONS OF SOUTHWEST WYOMING. GUSTS IN THE 50 MPH RANGE OR HIGHER ARE POSSIBLE AT THE LOWER ELEVATIONS...WITH PEAK WINDS APPROACHING 70 MPH IN THE MOUNTAINS. AN UNSETTLED WEATHER PATTERN WILL SET UP FOR THE MAJORITY OF THE UPCOMING WEEK. THE FIRST...AND POSSIBLY BEST STORM SYSTEM WILL DEVELOP OVER THE WESTERN GREAT BASIN MONDAY...THEN TRACK SLOWLY EAST ACROSS THE BASIN MONDAY NIGHT THROUGH TUESDAY EVENING. HEAVY SNOWS ARE LIKELY ACROSS THE MOUNTAINS...WITH SOME FAVORED VALLEY LOCATIONS ALSO RECEIVING SIGNIFICANT SNOWFALL. ADDITIONAL WEATHER DISTURBANCES WILL FOLLOW LATER IN THE WEEK...THOUGH THESE SYSTEMS WILL LIKELY FOCUS MOST OF THE SNOW ACROSS NORTHERN UTAH AND SOUTHWEST WYOMING. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... WEATHER SPOTTERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO REPORT SIGNIFICANT WEATHER CONDITIONS ACCORDING TO STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURES. ROGOWSKI 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
5 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
The Park City - Jupiter sensor recorded a maximum wind gust of 79 mph, while the Arrowhead Summit sensor recorded a peak gust of 77 mph.
The US-6 at Eureka sensor recorded a maximum wind gust of 60 mph and the Pleasant Grove RAWS recorded a maximum wind gust of 59 mph.
Peak wind gusts across the Salt Lake and Tooele Valleys included 62 mph at the Flux sensor, 61 mph at Flight Park South, 59 mph at the Salt Lake City International Airport ASOS, and 58 mph at Olympus Hills.
Peak wind gusts across the Salt Lake Desert and Mountains included 66 mph at Promontory Point, 65 mph at Lakeside Mountain, 62 mph at I-80 at Grassey, and 58 mph at the Utah Test and Training Range Thermal Treatment Unit.
The US-40 at Starvation sensor recorded a maximum wind gust of 58 mph.
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, February 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: 366478, 366479, 366480, 366482, 366481.