Scattered high-based thunderstorms formed across northern Utah on May 15, primarily bringing gusty microburst winds to the area. The strongest winds with these thunderstorms were recorded across the Great Salt Lake Desert.
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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.
Scattered high-based thunderstorms formed across northern Utah on May 15, primarily bringing gusty microburst winds to the area. The strongest winds with these thunderstorms were recorded across 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 May 15, 3:05 PM MST, 15 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SALT LAKE CITY UT 405 PM MDT WED MAY 15 2013 .SYNOPSIS...A WEAK UPPER LEVEL DISTURBANCE WILL MOVE EAST ACROSS SOUTHERN UTAH THROUGH THIS EVENING. BEHIND THIS SYSTEM A STRONGER TROUGH WILL MOVE INTO THE GREAT BASIN LATE IN THE WEEK...FOLLOWED BY A STILL COLDER SYSTEM OVER THE WEEKEND. HIGH PRESSURE WILL RETURN BY THE MIDDLE OF NEXT WEEK. && .DISCUSSION...UPPER LEVEL DISTURBANCE CURRENTLY MOVING ACROSS SOUTH CENTRAL UTAH THIS AFTERNOON PER WATER VAPOR IMAGERY. LITTLE CONVECTIVE ACTIVITY WITH THE LOW...BUT IS CONTRIBUTING TO INSTABILITY PRODUCING CONVECTION OVER SOUTHWEST WYOMING AND THE HIGHER TERRAIN OF NORTHERN UTAH. MOISTURE IS CONCENTRATED AT MID AND UPPER LEVELS SO DO NOT EXPECT MUCH RAIN TO HIT THE GROUND. GUSTY WINDS SEEM TO BE THE BIGGEST THREAT THROUGH THE EARLY EVENING. EXPECTING CONVECTIVE ACTIVITY TO WIND DOWN WITH THE LOSS OF DAYTIME HEATING. SOUTHERLY FLOW WILL INCREASE TOMORROW AHEAD OF THE FIRST IN A SERIES OF STORM SYSTEMS THAT WILL IMPACT THE AREA THROUGH EARLY NEXT WEEK. BREEZY CONDITIONS ARE POSSIBLE PRIMARILY SOUTH OF THE STALLED FRONTAL BOUNDARY OVER NORTHERN UTAH...PARTICULARLY OVER SOUTHWEST UTAH. ENOUGH MOISTURE AND INSTABILITY WILL EXIST FOR SOME MORE ISOLATED STORMS OVER NORTHERN UTAH...BUT SOUTHERN UTAH WILL REMAIN QUITE DRY...LIMITING CONVECTIVE ACTIVITY. EC/GFS PUSH THE INITIAL STORM SYSTEM AND ASSOCIATED COLD FRONT THROUGH LATE THURSDAY NIGHT THROUGH FRIDAY. ECMWF IS A BIT FASTER MOVING THE FRONT THROUGH AND ALSO GIVES THE SYSTEM MORE OF A TILT. THOUGH THE SYSTEM APPEARS TO BE LACKING IN MOISTURE IN BOTH SOLUTIONS...ENOUGH INSTABILITY WILL EXIST FOR SOME DECENT CONVECTION...ESPECIALLY IN THE VICINITY OF THE FRONTAL BOUNDARY. TEMPS WILL DROP NOTICEABLY WITH THE BOUNDARY...WITH MAXES RUNNING VERY CLOSE TO SEASONAL NORMS IF NOT A LITTLE BELOW BY SATURDAY. THIS IS A BIG CHANGE COMPARED TO THE 15-20F ABOVE CLIMO HIGHS OBSERVED THE PAST FEW DAYS. THE SECOND STORM SYSTEM IN THE SERIES IS PROGGED TO MOVE IN RIGHT BEHIND THE INITIAL WAVE SATURDAY NIGHT/SUNDAY MORNING...BRINGING A REENFORCING SHOT OF COLD AIR AND CONTINUED UNSETTLED CONDITIONS...ESPECIALLY FOR NORTHERN UTAH. 12Z ECMWF AND GFS STILL DIFFER SOME WITH THE SYSTEM...WITH THE ECMWF CONTINUING TO BRING THE SYSTEM FARTHER SOUTH...MOVING COLD POOL ENERGY OVER THE FORECAST AREA SUNDAY. IN THE FARTHER NORTH GFS SOLUTION...THE BEST COLD POOL INSTABILITY REMAINS NORTH AND EAST OF THE AREA. LATEST GEM MORE CLOSELY FOLLOWS THE GFS AND HAS FOR THE PAST FEW RUNS...SO HAVE NOT GONE TOO BULLISH ON POPS FOR THIS PERIOD. ALL GLOBAL MODELS BRING HIGH PRESSURE BACK OVER THE GREAT BASIN FOR MONDAY NIGHT/TUESDAY AND KEEP IT IN PLACE THROUGH MIDWEEK...BRINGING A WARMING AND DRYING TREND. IN THE EXTENDED...SOME INDICATION OF ANOTHER PACIFIC STORM SYSTEM MOVING IN FOR THE END OF THE WORK WEEK...BUT MODELS STILL DISAGREE ON THE DETAILS. && .AVIATION...NORTHERLY WINDS WILL CONTINUE AT THE SLC TERMINAL THROUGH THE EVENING...WITH OCCASIONAL GUSTS FROM ISOLATED SHOWERS MOVING THROUGH THE AREA. CEILINGS ARE EXPECTED TO REMAIN ABOVE 7000 FEET AGL THROUGH THE TAF PERIOD. WINDS SHOULD SWITCH TO SOUTHEAST AROUND 03-04Z. && .FIRE WEATHER...A STORM SYSTEM WILL MOVE ONTO THE WEST COAST THURSDAY AND ACROSS THE GREAT BASIN FRIDAY. WINDS AHEAD OF THIS APPROACHING STORM WILL INCREASE ACROSS ALL VALLEYS THURSDAY AND REMAIN STRONG OVER SOUTH CENTRAL AND EASTERN UTAH THROUGH FRIDAY. RELATIVE HUMIDITIES BELOW 15 PERCENT WILL ACCOMPANY THESE WINDS WHICH WILL ACCELERATE THE CURING OF THE FINE FUELS WHICH ARE STILL IN THE GREEN UP PHASE. SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL ACCOMPANY THE COLD FRONT FRIDAY AFTERNOON ACROSS MAINLY THE NORTHWESTERN HALF OF THE STATE AND THEN LINGER IN THE UNSTABLE AIR MASS ACROSS THE NORTHERN TWO THIRDS OF THE AREA SATURDAY. ALTHOUGH A GOOD RECOVERY IN RH IS EXPECTED...THE RAIN SHOWERS ARE EXPECTED TO BE GENERALLY LIGHT...WITH RAINFALL AMOUNTS OF LESS THAN 0.25 OF AN INCH. ISOLATED AMOUNTS OF 0.75 OF AN INCH ARE POSSIBLE IN THE MOUNTAINS OF NORTHERN UTAH. && .SLC WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... UT...NONE. WY...NONE. && PUBLIC...TRAPHAGAN FIRE WEATHER...STRUTHWOLF AVIATION...VERZELLA 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 600 AM MDT WED MAY 15 2013 UTZ001>016-019>021-517-518-WYZ021-161200- 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- 600 AM MDT WED MAY 15 2013 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR THE WESTERN TWO THIRDS OF UTAH AND SOUTHWEST WYOMING. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT FLOWS IN THE RIVERS AND STREAMS ACROSS THE REGION WILL CONTINUE TO BE VERY SWIFT AND COLD TODAY. WHILE FLOODING IS NOT ANTICIPATED...THESE WATERWAYS ARE OR WILL SOON BECOME VERY DANGEROUS. PLEASE BE AWARE OF THE DANGEROUS CONDITIONS IF YOU ARE VENTURING OUT NEAR ANY RIVER OR STREAM FED BY SPRING SNOWMELT RUNOFF. PLEASE MONITOR YOUR CHILDREN IF THEY VENTURE NEAR STREAMS AND RIVERS THIS SPRING. EVERY YEAR MANY CHILDREN FALL INTO SWOLLEN RIVERS AND STREAMS...AND SOME HAVE DROWNED AS A RESULT OF THE VERY COLD AND SWIFT WATERS. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...THURSDAY THROUGH TUESDAY RIVERS AND STREAMS ACROSS THE REGION WILL CONTINUE TO BE VERY SWIFT AND COLD. EXTREME CAUTION SHOULD BE USED NEAR THESE WATERWAYS...AND CHILDREN AND PETS SHOULD BE CLOSELY MONITORED. A COLD FRONT WILL REACH FAR NORTHWEST UTAH BY LATE THURSDAY AFTERNOON. GUSTY SOUTHERLY WINDS AND WARM TEMPERATURES ARE EXPECTED AHEAD OF THE FRONT...RESULTING IN CRITICAL FIRE WEATHER CONDITIONS WHERE FUELS ARE DEEMED CRITICAL. SCATTERED SHOWERS AND ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS WILL DEVELOP FOR THURSDAY NIGHT THROUGH EARLY FRIDAY. THIS ACTIVITY WILL BE CONFINED TO MAINLY NORTHERN UTAH AND SOUTHWEST WYOMING. A SECOND COLDER STORM SYSTEM WILL ARRIVE IN THE OUTLOOK AREA LATE THIS WEEKEND. THIS STORM WILL OFFER A BETTER THREAT FOR PRECIPITATION FOR NORTHERN AND CENTRAL UTAH LATE SUNDAY THROUGH EARLY MONDAY. TEMPERATURES WILL BE SUBSTANTIALLY LOWER ACROSS THE REGION... WITH READINGS GENERALLY BELOW NORMAL EARLY IN 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.UDOTTRAFFIC.UTAH.GOV/ROADWEATHERFORECAST.ASPX
The Salt Lake City radar (KMTX), 152 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 22:17 UTC.
3 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.
The West Salt Flats sensor in the Dugway Proving Ground mesonet recorded a peak wind gust of 61 mph.
The Antelope Island State Park sensor recorded a maximum wind gust of 68 mph.
The North Salt Flats sensor in the Dugway Proving Ground mesonet recorded a maximum wind gust of 63 mph.
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, May 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: 456546, 456548, 456551.