A cold front associated with a fast-moving weather disturbance brought gusty winds to northern Utah, with the strongest winds in the Great Salt Lake Desert.
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 front associated with a fast-moving weather disturbance brought gusty winds to northern Utah, with the strongest winds in the Great Salt Lake Desert.
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 Mar 21, 3:35 AM MST, 50 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SALT LAKE CITY UT 435 AM MDT THU MAR 21 2013 .SYNOPSIS...A COLD FRONT WILL CROSS UTAH THIS MORNING WITH EVEN COLDER AIR SETTLING INTO THE AREA ON FRIDAY. A COLD NORTHWEST FLOW WILL CONTINUE THROUGH THE WEEKEND. && .DISCUSSION...EARLY MORNING WATER VAPOR IMAGERY DEPICTS A PROGRESSIVE PACIFIC TROUGH MOVING INTO THE NORTHERN GREAT BASIN. STRONG TILT WITH THIS SYSTEM AS ASSOCIATED SURFACE BOUNDARY IS ALREADY MOVING THROUGH THE CENTRAL WASATCH AT THIS TIME. CONVECTIVE IN NATURE OVER THE LAST SEVERAL HOURS...SAID FRONT WILL CONTINUE TO WORK SOUTH SOUTHEAST THIS MORNING...THOUGH AS SEEN OF LATE IT WILL BE OUTRUNNING THE UPPER SUPPORT REMAINING UPSTREAM AT THIS TIME. IR IMAGERY HAS BEEN INDICATING ENHANCED DYNAMIC FORCING ALONG THE H7 BAROCLINIC ZONE WITH COOLING OF CLOUD TOPS EXTENDING FROM THE SNAKE RIVER VALLEY SOUTHWEST INTO NORTHERN NEVADA...THIS BEING THE LEADING EDGE OF UPPER SUPPORT TO COME LATER THIS MORNING. IN THE NEAREST TERM SEEING NUMEROUS SHOWERS WITH SNOW ABOVE 65/7000 FEET WITH CONVECTION LIKELY LOWERING THOSE LEVELS SOME 1000 FEET OR SO ALONG THE SURFACE FRONT. THE MID LEVEL SUPPORT MENTIONED PREVIOUSLY WILL PUSH THROUGH NORTHERN UTAH BETWEEN 10-14Z BRINGING WITH IT ENOUGH COLD ADVECTION FOR A LOWERING OF SNOW LEVELS TO VALLEY FLOORS FROM ABOUT UTAH VALLEY NORTHWARD. GOING SNOW ADVISORY LOOKS SOLID FOR THE WASATCH AND WESTERN UINTA MTNS AND DO NOT EXPECT ADDITIONAL HIGHLIGHTS AT THIS TIME AS ANY VALLEY SNOWFALL WILL BE AN INCH OR LESS ON THE COLDER SURFACES. MINIMAL IMPACT EXPECTED IN THE MOUNTAIN VALLEYS. LOW AMPLITUDE AND FAST MOVING...NOT EXPECTING MUCH ACTIVITY FROM THIS TROUGH ACROSS THE SOUTHERN 2/3RDS OUTSIDE OF TERRAIN BASED SHOWERS THIS MORNING SPARKED FROM APPROACH AND PASSAGE COUPLED WITH LINGERING LOW/MID LEVEL MOISTURE. RAPID PROGRESSION OF TROUGH EXPECTED TO YIELD PARTIAL AFTERNOON CLEARING WITH ANY LINGERING SHOWERS CONFINED TO TERRAIN ACROSS THE NORTH. THIS THE CASE AS DEEPEST MOISTURE WILL BE SHUNTED EAST WITH PASSAGE. HAVE ONLY MADE SUBTLE CHANGES TO PREVIOUS FORECAST FOR TODAY...MOST NOTABLY A MORE DISTINCT AFTERNOON DRYING TREND. TRAILING WAVE DESCENDING SOUTHEAST FROM THE GULF OF ALASKA ATTM WILL APPROACH THE AREA TONIGHT. RESPONSE LOCALLY WILL BE TO STABILIZE MID LEVELS AND AID DRYING CONDITIONS FOR A PERIOD TONIGHT. ALTHOUGH MOISTURE ADVECTION WILL BE MEAGER AS TROUGH DESCENDS INTO THE AREA...BREADTH OF INSTABILITY (H7 TEMPS LOWERING TO -16 C WHILST H5 TEMPS LOWER TO -36 C PER GFS) DEVELOPING WITH PASSAGE FRIDAY WILL ENABLE WIDESPREAD SNOW SHOWERS ACROSS THE NORTH. THIS ESPECIALLY HOLDS TRUE FOR THE MOUNTAINS. RAISED BOTH VALLEY AND MTN POPS ROUGHLY 20 PERCENT IN THE NORTH TO ACCOUNT FOR THIS THINKING. A COLD NORTHWEST FLOW WILL REMAIN IN THE AREA INTO AND THROUGH THE WEEKEND AHEAD. GLOBAL MODELS SUGGEST ONE LAST LOBE WILL ROTATE AROUND THE ALBERTA PARENT LOW ENTERING NORTHERN PORTIONS ON SUNDAY. AGAIN...NOT OVERLY IMPRESSIVE DYNAMICALLY BUT INSTABILITY ALONE WILL BE ENOUGH TO PROMOTE SCATTERED SNOW SHOWERS ACROSS THE NORTH WHILE DRY CONDITIONS REMAIN IN PLACE ACROSS THE SOUTH. INCREASED POPS ROUGHLY 10 PERCENT ACROSS THE NORTHERN MOUNTAINS DUE TO ABOVE REASONING. GLOBALS REASONABLY DEPICT SHORT WAVE RIDGING BUILDING INTO THE REGION EARLY NEXT WEEK AS SOUTHERN/NORTHERN BRANCH TROUGHS INTERACT AND DUMBBELL ABOUT EACH OTHER CARVING SOUTH OFF THE COAST. LOOSE CONFIDENCE QUITE RAPIDLY IN GUIDANCE AT THIS POINT AS DETAILS DIFFER IN MODELS AND RUN TO RUN CONSISTENCY HAS BEEN SUB PAR. NO CHANGES IN FORECAST PAST DAY 5 OR SO. && .AVIATION...SCATTERED SHOWERS WILL MOVE ACROSS THE SLC TERMINAL THROUGH ABOUT 15-16Z THIS MORNING. RAIN WILL MIX WITH AND BRIEFLY CHANGE TO SNOW BETWEEN 13 AND 14Z WITH A 30 PERCENT OF LINGERING UNTIL 15Z. CIGS ARE EXPECTED TO REMAIN BELOW 7K FT AGL THROUGH 19Z WITH MVFR CONDITIONS EXPECTED FROM 13 TO 17Z IN SNOW SHOWERS AND CIGS BELOW 3K FT AGL. NO SNOW ACCUMULATION ON PAVEMENT. WINDS WILL BE NORTHWESTERLY WITH OCCASIONAL GUSTS TO 30 MPH POSSIBLE WITH SHOWERS. && .SLC WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... UT...WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY UNTIL NOON MDT TODAY FOR UTZ007>009. WY...NONE. && MERRILL/STRUTHWOLF 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 523 AM MDT THU MAR 21 2013 UTZ001>016-019>021-517-518-WYZ021-221130- 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- 523 AM MDT THU MAR 21 2013 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR THE WESTERN TWO THIRDS OF UTAH AND SOUTHWEST WYOMING. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT PRECIPITATION WILL BECOME MORE WIDESPREAD ACROSS THE NORTHERN OUTLOOK AREA THIS MORNING BEFORE TAPERING BY MIDDAY. SNOW LEVELS WILL FALL FROM NEAR 6000 FEET TO NORTHERN VALLEY FLOORS BY MID MORNING. SNOW SHOWERS COULD BE BRIEFLY HEAVY THIS MORNING BEFORE THE PRECIPITATION ENDS BY MIDDAY. HOWEVER...LITTLE ACCUMULATION IS EXPECTED IN THE WASATCH FRONT VALLEYS WITH SLUSHY ACCUMULATION POSSIBLE ON THE BENCHES AND IN THE MOUNTAIN VALLEYS. WINTER DRIVING CONDITIONS WILL CONTINUE AT HIGHER ELEVATIONS OF THE NORTH THURSDAY MORNING. ACCUMULATING SNOW IS EXPECTED TO IMPACT THE MORNING COMMUTE OVER MOUNTAIN PASSES SUCH AS PARLEYS SUMMIT ON I-80. GUSTY NORTHWEST WINDS UP TO 55 MPH WILL CREATE DANGEROUS CROSSWIND CONDITIONS ACROSS INTERSTATE 80 IN WESTERN TOOELE COUNTY INTO MID MORNING. THESE STRONG WINDS ARE EXPECTED TO DISSIPATE QUITE RAPIDLY FOR THE LATE MORNING HOURS. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...FRIDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY ANOTHER COLD FRONT IS EXPECTED FRIDAY MORNING...BRINGING ANOTHER CHANCE OF SNOW TO PORTIONS OF THE NORTHERN OUTLOOK AREA THROUGH FRIDAY EVENING. MUCH COOLER TEMPERATURES WILL PREVAIL THURSDAY THROUGH THE UPCOMING WEEKEND...WITH PERIODIC SNOW SHOWERS CONTINUING AT TIMES ACROSS THE NORTHERN OUTLOOK AREA. .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.UDOTTRAFFIC.UTAH.GOV/ROADWEATHERFORECAST.ASPX
1 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
Peak recorded wind gusts across the Great Salt Lake Desert included 74 mph at Wendover Peak, 66 mph at Diddle Knoll, and 60 mph at the Interstate 80 at Milepost 29 sensor.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Utah in 2013Every state in 2013This day in weather historyWarnings in Utah, March 2013
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: 438534.