A moist air mass, combined with a few weather disturbances, helped produce scattered showers and thunderstorms across Utah in early May. The stronger thunderstorms produced gusty winds and large hail.
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 SLC wrote it up.
A moist air mass, combined with a few weather disturbances, helped produce scattered showers and thunderstorms across Utah in early May. The stronger thunderstorms produced gusty winds and large hail.
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 5, 3:16 PM MST, 14 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SALT LAKE CITY UT 416 PM MDT THU MAY 5 2016 .SYNOPSIS...THE UPPER LEVEL LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM OFF THE SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA COAST MOVE SLOWLY EAST INTO THE GREAT BASIN FOR THE UPCOMING WEEKEND. A SECOND COLDER STORM SYSTEM WILL MOVE SOUTH FROM WESTERN CANADA AND MOVE THROUGH THE REGION EARLY NEXT WEEK. && .SHORT TERM (UNTIL 06Z MONDAY)...THE COLD CORE UPPER LOW CURRENTLY OFF THE SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA COAST WILL MOVE INLAND ON FRIDAY. FROM THERE THIS FEATURE WILL MOVE EAST AND EXPAND ACROSS MUCH OF THE GREAT BASIN AND DESERT SOUTHWEST FOR THE UPCOMING WEEKEND. THE WARM SOUTHERLY FLOW ALOFT AHEAD OF THE LOW HAS MAINTAINED MUCH ABOVE NORMAL TEMPS EVEN WITH THE CLOUD COVER. BEGINNING TO SEE WEAK CONVECTION FIRE UP ACROSS EXTREME SOUTHWEST AND SOUTHEAST UTAH. OVER THE SOUTHWEST THIS RATHER WEAK CONVECTION MAY BE TIED TO A VORTICITY EJECTING OUT AHEAD OF THE MAIN UPPER LOW THROUGH SOUTHERN NEVADA/WESTERN ARIZONA. THIS FEATURE IS WORKING WITH QUITE LIMITED MOISTURE AND WILL AT BEST GENERATE A FEW VERY LIGHT SHOWERS...OR ON THE OFF CHANCE A DRY THUNDERSTORM. OVER THE SOUTHEAST A SMALL MOISTURE TAP EXTENDING BACK INTO SOUTHWEST NEW MEXICO IS SPAWNING A MORE EXTENSIVE AREA OF CUMULUS...WITH SUFFICIENT INSTABILITY TO SUPPORT A FEW HIGH-BASED THUNDERSTORMS. THIS MOISTURE TAP WILL CONTINUE TO STRETCH NORTH INTO NORTHERN UTAH WHERE IT COULD INTERACT WITH THE WEAK VORTICITY LOBE MOVING NORTH THROUGH WESTERN UTAH OVERNIGHT. THIS WEAK DYNAMIC CONTRIBUTION TO LIFT ALONG WITH DECENT UPPER LEVEL DIVERGENCE COULD SUPPORT SOME CONVECTION LATER TONIGHT/EARLY FRIDAY. THE ADVANCING UPPER LOW WILL BRING STEADILY INCREASING SYNOPTIC- SCALE LIFT...MOISTURE AND INSTABILITY TO UTAH FOR LATE FRIDAY THROUGH EARLY SATURDAY. THE AREAL EXTENT AND INTENSITY OF PRECIP WILL INCREASE ON SATURDAY AS THE UPPER LOW EXPAND ACROSS A LARGE PORTION OF THE GREAT BASIN...WITH MOST ACTIVE AREAS REMAINING ACROSS SOUTHERN/CENTRAL UTAH INTO SATURDAY EVENING. ACTIVITY WILL SHIFT TO THE NORTH ON SUNDAY AS THE CENTER OF THE UPPER LOW SHIFTS EAST INTO NORTHERN COLORADO/SOUTHERN WYOMING. SOLID WARM ADVECTION WRAP AROUND ACROSS SOUTHWEST WYOMING/NORTHERN UTAH SHOULD SUPPLY SUFFICIENT LIFT FOR WIDESPREAD PRECIP SUNDAY AND INTO SUNDAY EVENING. .LONG TERM (AFTER 06Z MONDAY)...MID LEVEL TROUGH AXIS WILL CONTINUE TO SHIFT SOUTHEAST INTO EASTERN UTAH SUNDAY NIGHT ALLOWING A DRIER FLOW ALOFT TO MOVE INTO THE STATE FROM THE NORTHWEST MONDAY. HAVE TRENDED TO DECREASE POPS TO ISOLATED BY MONDAY AFTERNOON AS SUCH. UPSTREAM THE NEXT TROUGH WILL BE TRANSLATING SOUTHEAST THROUGH IDAHO MONDAY AFTERNOON INTO THE OVERNIGHT HOURS...WITH MEAN TRAJECTORY TRENDING EAST INTO WYOMING INTO THE OVERNIGHT HOURS. THIS TRACK LOOKS TO LARGELY LIMIT UPPER SUPPORT TO CENTRAL IDAHO AND POINTS EAST...THOUGH A SHALLOW COLD FRONT LOOKS TO SNEAK INTO NORTHERN UTAH BY TUESDAY MORNING. FRONTAL FORCING MAY BE JUST DEEP ENOUGH TO KICK OFF LIGHT SHOWERS OVER THE NORTH TUESDAY...AND CONVERGENT MID LEVEL FLOW GENERATED BY THE FRONTAL PROGRESSION MAY KICK OFF ISOLATED CONVECTION OVER THE SOUTH. HAVE TRENDED GRIDS TO MENTION ISOLATED POTENTIAL FOR BOTH OF THESE AREAS...THOUGH SUBTLE DIFFERENCES IN NET AMPLIFICATION AND TIMING OF THIS TROUGH/FRONT CONTINUE TO EXIST IN GLOBALS. REGARDLESS...TEMPS DO LOOK TO REMAIN COOL AND SLIGHTLY BELOW NORMAL TUE/WED. PATTERN THEREAFTER BEGINNING MIDWEEK TRENDS DRIER AND WARMER WITH TEMPS REBOUNDING TO ABOVE SEASONAL NORMS BY WEEKS END. && .AVIATION...THE SURFACE TROUGH ACROSS CENTRAL NEVADA WILL MAINTAIN GUSTY SOUTHERLY WINDS ACROSS WESTERN UTAH INTO EARLY FRIDAY. FOR THE KSLC TERMINAL GUSTY SOUTH WINDS MAY DROP OFF A BIT EARLY THIS EVENING...THEN PICK UP AGAIN FROM THE SOUTH-SOUTHEAST LATER THIS EVENING. HIGH-BASED BUT GENERALLY WEAK CONVECTION WILL FORM ACROSS WESTER UTAH THIS EVENING ISOLATED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS COULD FORM THIS EVENING...THOUGH THIS ACTIVITY WILL LIKELY STAY WEST OF THE TERMINAL. THE HIGH-BASED NATURE OF THIS ACTIVITY COULD SIGNAL THE POTENTIAL FOR MICROBURST WINDS OVERNIGHT. .SLC WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... UT...NONE. WY...NONE. && SHORT TERM...CONGER LONG TERM/AVIATION...MERRILL 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 314 AM MDT THU MAY 5 2016 UTZ001>016-019>021-517-518-WYZ021-061300- 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- 314 AM MDT THU MAY 5 2016 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF CENTRAL UTAH... NORTHERN UTAH...SOUTHERN UTAH AND SOUTHWEST WYOMING. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT GUSTY WINDS ARE FORECAST THIS AFTERNOON FOR MUCH OF THE AREA SOUTH OF INTERSTATE 80...THOUGH GUSTS SHOULD LARGELY REMAIN BELOW 45 MPH. THE STRONGEST GUSTS ARE EXPECTED ACROSS WEST CENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST UTAH. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...FRIDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY A SPRING STORM SYSTEM WILL ARRIVE FRIDAY AND PERSIST THROUGH SUNDAY...BRINGING SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS. SOME THUNDERSTORMS FRIDAY MAY BRING AN ENHANCED THREAT OF GUSTY WINDS ESPECIALLY IN THE AFTERNOON AND EVENING HOURS. SNOW LEVELS WILL VARY BETWEEN 8000 AND 10000 FEET DURING THIS EVENT. .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 ROAD TRAVEL IMPACTS VISIT... HTTP://WWW.UDOTTRAFFIC.UTAH.GOV/ROADWEATHERFORECAST.ASPX
The Salt Lake City radar (KMTX), 70 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 22:30 UTC.
8 thunderstorm wind, 4 hail. Local standard time, as filed.
A 62 mph wind gust was recorded in Grantsville, and a semitruck was blown over on Interstate 80.
The sensor on Gunnison Island recorded a peak wind gust of 63 mph.
The Simpson Springs sensor in the Dugway Proving Ground mesonet recorded a maximum wind gust of 69 mph.
Hail approximately 1 inch in diameter was reported near Neola.
Multiple reports were received of penny sized hail in Lindon and Pleasant Grove.
Thunderstorm winds knocked a large tree onto a house near Roy. The time of the event is estimated.
A 64 mph wind gust was recorded at the Saltaire sensor.
The Fremont Island sensor recorded a peak wind gust of 62 mph.
A 68 mph wind gust was recorded at the Eagle Lake sensor near Clinton.
Nickel sized hail was reported near Syracuse.
Wind gusts with this storm in Box Elder County included 66 mph at the Interstate 15 at Willard Point of Entry sensor, and 60 mph at at Interstate 15 at Tremonton sensor.
Hail with a diameter of a penny was reported in Holladay.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Utah in 2016Every state in 2016This day in weather historyWarnings in Utah, May 2016
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: 638295, 638296, 638297, 638288, 638302, 638293, 638298, 638299, 638300, 638289, 638301, 638292.