A spring storm system brought heavy mountain snow to the mountains of southern Utah, while also bringing heavy rain and flash flooding to the lower elevations of southern Utah.
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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.
A spring storm system brought heavy mountain snow to the mountains of southern Utah, while also bringing heavy rain and flash flooding to the lower elevations of southern 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 Mar 12, 8:12 PM MST, 3 hours 48 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Salt Lake City UT 912 PM MDT Thu Mar 12 2020 .SYNOPSIS...A low pressure system off the southern California coast will track eastward across the Desert Southwest tomorrow, bringing widespread rain and snow to primarily central and southern Utah tonight through Friday. Southwest flow will result in mild temperatures over the weekend, with some rain possible for far northern Utah. && .DISCUSSION...A broad upper low is centered just off the California coast this evening. Moisture and instability are abundant on the front end of this system, with a large area of precip noted on radar over southern California, southern Nevada, and much of Arizona. The slow eastward track of the low has allowed some of this rain to start to creep into southwest Utah. The storm system will track across southern California and Arizona tonight into tomorrow as it becomes an open wave. As it continues east, precipitation will spread into southern Utah overnight and into central and northeast Utah during the day Friday. The combination of a slow moving system, favorable dynamics, and good moisture will allow for periods of moderate to heavy precipitation, particularly in association with the deformation axis on the front end of the trough. Given the relatively warm nature of the system, snow levels will be on the high side (above 7,000 feet), but the higher elevations of the southern mountains will see some significant accumulations. Therefore, a Winter Storm Warning will be in effect above 8000 feet beginning tonight. Precipitation will tend to taper off tonight into Saturday morning as the system weakens and tracks east of the area. The focus then shifts to a system expected to be rotating along the Pacific Northwest coast during the day Saturday. This system should move little over the weekend but is anticipated to bring a weak boundary into northwest Utah during the day Saturday. This boundary will act as the focus for some precip over far northern Utah. Most guidance indicates this system will slide south along the Pacific coast through the early part of the week before tracking across the Desert Southwest during the middle of the upcoming week. No updates expected to the forecast this evening. && .AVIATION....The SLC terminal will see VFR conditions through the overnight hours with some high clouds. Northwest winds are expected to become light southeasterly or light and variable between 08Z and 10Z before returning to the northwest between 15Z and 17Z. && .SLC WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... UT...Winter Storm Warning from 2 AM to 10 PM MDT Friday for UTZ518. WY...None. && Traphagan For more information from NOAA's National Weather Service visit... http://weather.gov/saltlakecity For frequently asked questions about the Area Forecast Discussion visit... http://weather.gov/saltlakecity/general/afd_faqs.php
Hazardous Weather Outlook National Weather Service Salt Lake City UT 309 PM MDT Thu Mar 12 2020 UTZ001>016-019>021-517-518-WYZ021-131400- 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- 309 PM MDT Thu Mar 12 2020 This Hazardous Weather Outlook is for the western two thirds of Utah and southwest Wyoming. .DAY ONE...This Afternoon and Tonight Valley rain and high elevation snow will expand across the southern tier of Utah from Arizona late tonight. Moderate to locally heavy valley rain will be possible near the Arizona border late tonight. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...Friday through Wednesday Valley rain and mountain snow will expand north and east through central and eastern Utah during the day Friday. Significant snow accumulations will be possible above 8000 feet, especially in the southern mountains. Widespread moderate to locally heavy rainfall will continue across the southern and eastern valleys during the morning before becoming showery Friday afternoon. The next storm system will settle into the Pacific Northwest this weekend. Gusty southerly winds will become widespread during the weekend with unsettled conditions especially across northwest Utah. The storm will pass through the region during the mid-week, bringing colder temperatures and lowering snow levels to the valley floor at some locations. .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 For information on potential road travel impacts visit... http://www.udottraffic.utah.gov/roadweatherforecast.aspx
The Cedar City radar (KICX), 76 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 07:01 UTC.
5 heavy rain, 1 heavy snow, 1 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.
Washington county officials received a report of 1.41 inches of rain.
New Harmony received 1.83 inches of rain.
Zion National Park received 1.67 inches of rain.
The Badger Springs RAWS reported 3.4 inches of precipitation.
A Zion National Park automated weather station recorded 1.89 inches of rain.
The Kolob SNOTEL received 3.4 inches of liquid equivalent precipitation, or approximately 34 inches of snow, while the Midway Valley SNOTEL received 3.3 inches of liquid equivalent precipitation, or approximately 33 inches of snow. Other SNOTEL precipitation totals included Snowflower Flat with 2.8 inches of liquid equivalent precipitation, or approximately 28 inches of snow, and Webster Flat with 2.7 inches of liquid equivalent precipitation, or approximately 27 inches of snow.
Park Rangers in Zion National Park reported flash flooding in Echo, Hidden, Telephone, and Refrigerator Canyons.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Utah in 2020Every state in 2020This day in weather historyWarnings in Utah, March 2020
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: 883107, 883109, 883110, 883111, 883112, 883116, 883101.