Abundant monsoon moisture continued to create thunderstorms with heavy rainfall and resultant flash floods in southeast Utah.
Every event with a place to put it. Tap one for its entry below.
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 GJT wrote it up.
Abundant monsoon moisture continued to create thunderstorms with heavy rainfall and resultant flash floods in southeast 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 Grand Junction, CO wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Sep 13, 10:34 AM MST, 4 hours 26 minutes earlier.
FXUS65 KGJT 131734 AFDGJT AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAND JUNCTION CO 1134 AM MDT FRI SEP 13 2013 .UPDATE... ISSUED AT 1119 AM MDT FRI SEP 13 2013 THICK CLOUD COVER IS MOVING NORTH INTO ARCHULETA AND HINSDALE COUNTIES FROM CENTRAL NEW MEXICO. NO PRECIPITATION IS SHOWING UP ON THE RADAR AT THIS TIME IN THESE SOUTHERN ZONES BUT IS EXPECTED TO MOVE INTO THESE COUNTIES EARLY THIS AFTERNOON. IN EASTERN UTAH...SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ARE ALREADY POPPING UP ALONG THE EAST SIDE OF THE UPPER LEVEL LOW DRIFTING EAST ACROSS NORTHERN UTAH....AS WELL AS ISOLATED SHOWERS POPPING UP IN ELEVATED AREAS WHERE SOLAR HEATING IS OCCURRING. && .SHORT TERM...(TODAY THROUGH SATURDAY EVENING) ISSUED AT 652 AM MDT FRI SEP 13 2013 NOTE...THE SALT LAKE CITY WFO IS CURRENTLY ISSUING ALL PRODUCTS FOR WFO GJT AT THIS TIME DUE TO MAJOR COMMUNICATION ISSUES. LITTLE ADJUSTMENT WAS MADE TO CURRENT FORECAST GRIDS DUE TO TIME CONSTRAINTS... AN UPPER LOW CONTINUES SPINNING OVER NORTHWEST UTAH THIS MORNING WITH THE PERSISTENT SOUTHERLY FLOW OVER ERN UT AND WRN CO. SOME DRYING HAS OCCURRED OVERNIGHT AND CONVECTION HAS WEAKENED ALTHO OROGRAPHIC SHOWERS CONTINUE OVER THE ERN CWA. THE MAIN RESULT OF THIS SLIGHT DRYING IS LESS CLOUD COVER ALLOWING DAYTIME HEATING TO FUEL CONVECTION. SOME OF THIS WILL ONCE AGAIN GENERATE HEAVY RAIN WITH A CONTINUED POTENTIAL OF LOCAL FLASH FLOODING. THE UT LOW DRIFTS ONLY SLOWLY EWD THRU SAT AND MOISTURE FILLS BACK INTO THE WEST SLOPE AREAS FOR A TIME. .LONG TERM...(AFTER MIDNIGHT SATURDAY NIGHT THROUGH THURSDAY) ISSUED AT 652 AM MDT FRI SEP 13 2013 MOISTURE IS EXPECTED TO LINGER INTO SUN MORNING THEN THE UT LOW FINALLY LIFTS OUT DURING THE AFTN WITH SHORT WAVE RIDGING BUILDING INTO ERN UT AND WRN CO SUN NIGHT. A DRYING SOUTHWESTERLY FLOW DEVELOPS MON AND CONTINUES TUE BUT THERE WILL BE ENOUGH RESIDUAL MOISTURE FOR DIURNAL CONVECTION MON THRU WED AFTERNOON OVER HIGHER TERRAIN. A PACIFIC TROF PASSES TO THE NORTH WED CLIPPING THE FORECAST AREA AND BRINGING STRONGER WINDS BUT LITTLE COOLING. EVEN DRIER WESTERLIES FOLLOW THIS WAVE FOR THE LATTER PART OF THE WEEK. && .AVIATION...(FOR THE 18Z TAFS THROUGH 18Z SATURDAY AFTERNOON) ISSUED AT 1119 AM MDT FRI SEP 13 2013 SCATTERED SHOWERS AND ISOLATED EMBEDDED THUNDERSTORMS ARE BEGINNING TO DEVELOP ACROSS THE FORECAST AREA. THIS ACTIVITY IS EXPECTED TO BRING AREAS OF MOUNTAIN OBSCURATION AND BRIEF MVFR VSBY IN HEAVY RAIN...BUT BEING SCATTERED IN NATURE CONFIDENCE IN OVERHEAD SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS IS RELATIVELY LOW. SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL INCREASE IN COVERAGE AND INTENSITY AFTER 18Z AND WILL CONTINUE THROUGH 03Z SATURDAY BEFORE DECREASING TOWARDS MIDNIGHT. IN THE EARLY MORNING HOURS...EXPECT PRECIPITATION TO PICK UP ESPECIALLY IN THE NORTHERN AREAS FROM WEST TO EAST. && .GJT WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... CO...NONE. UT...NONE. && UPDATE...JAM SHORT TERM...PW LONG TERM...PW AVIATION...JAM
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAND JUNCTION CO ISSUED BY NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SALT LAKE CITY UT 646 AM MDT FRI SEP 13 2013 COZ001>014-017>023-UTZ022>025-027>029-141300- LOWER YAMPA RIVER BASIN-CENTRAL YAMPA RIVER BASIN- ROAN AND TAVAPUTS PLATEAUS-ELKHEAD AND PARK MOUNTAINS- UPPER YAMPA RIVER BASIN-GRAND VALLEY-DEBEQUE TO SILT CORRIDOR- CENTRAL COLORADO RIVER BASIN-GRAND AND BATTLEMENT MESAS- GORE AND ELK MOUNTAINS/CENTRAL MOUNTAIN VALLEYS- CENTRAL GUNNISON AND UNCOMPAHGRE RIVER BASIN- WEST ELK AND SAWATCH MOUNTAINS-FLATTOPS- UPPER GUNNISON RIVER VALLEY-UNCOMPAHGRE PLATEAU AND DALLAS DIVIDE- NORTHWEST SAN JUAN MOUNTAINS-SOUTHWEST SAN JUAN MOUNTAINS- PARADOX VALLEY/LOWER DOLORES RIVER- FOUR CORNERS/UPPER DOLORES RIVER-ANIMAS RIVER BASIN- SAN JUAN RIVER BASIN-SOUTHEAST UTAH-EASTERN UINTA MOUNTAINS- EASTERN UINTA BASIN-TAVAPUTS PLATEAU-ARCHES/GRAND FLAT- LA SAL AND ABAJO MOUNTAINS-CANYONLANDS/NATURAL BRIDGES- 646 AM MDT FRI SEP 13 2013 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR EASTERN UTAH AND WESTERN COLORADO. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT SCATTERED TO NUMEROUS SHOWERS AND ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS WILL REDEVELOP THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING...FAVORING HIGHER TERRAIN. SOME STORMS WILL PRODUCE BRIEF HEAVY RAIN AND A THREAT OF ISOLATED FLASH FLOODING...BUT THIS WILL BE MORE LOCALIZED THAT IN RECENT DAYS. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SATURDAY THROUGH THURSDAY EXPECT A SLOW DECREASE IN AREAL COVERAGE OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS THROUGH THE WEEKEND. GENERALLY...SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED WITH PRECIPITATION FAVORING HIGHER TERRAIN. THE THREAT OF BRIEF HEAVY RAIN WILL CONTINUE WITH STORMS BUT THIS WILL BECOME MORE ISOLATED. MONDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY...MUCH DRIER AIR WILL MOVE INTO THE AREA WITH ONLY A SLIGHT CHANCE OF AFTERNOON AND EARLY EVENING SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS...MAINLY OVER THE MOUNTAINS. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL NOT BE NEEDED.
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
3 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.
Water flowed to knee depth in and near Elephant Canyon which caused the closure of area jeep trails.
Flash floods were reported in the Spanish Valley sub-division of Moab. Sand bags were in put in place to hold back flood waters.
Salt Valley and Winter Camp experienced flash floods which closed roads in Arches National Park as water at least six inches deep flowed over those roads.
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, September 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: 528803, 528804, 528806.