A ridge of high pressure dominated the Four Corners region. This resulted in scorching heat and dry weather across southeast Utah.
Every event with a place to put it; 2 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. 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.
A ridge of high pressure dominated the Four Corners region. This resulted in scorching heat and dry weather across southeast Utah. Conditions were exceptionally dry which translated to minimum humidities in the single digits to low teens.
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 Jul 17, 10:48 AM MST, 12 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Grand Junction CO 1148 AM MDT Sun Jul 17 2022 .SHORT TERM...(Today through Monday) Issued at 337 AM MDT Sun Jul 17 2022 Anticyclonic circulation is readily apparent on satellite imagery this morning. Eastern Utah and western Colorado skies are mostly clear thanks to persistent high pressure and the diversion of the strong monsoonal tropical moisture plume, which presently sits over Arizona and Nevada. Temperatures overnight have been moderated by widespread elevated dewpoints around 50 degrees. Today will be another hot day thanks to these warmer overnight lows and ample sunshine getting a head start this morning. Eastern Utah and low valleys on the west slope will see triple digits today, with a heat advisory in place until 8 PM MDT Sunday for eastern Utah and the Grand Valley. Afternoon convection will tamp down a bit today under the influence of the high. However, elevated terrain south of I-70 will see afternoon thunderstorms begin to pop up after midday. Light steering winds will keep most of the convection isolated to the terrain where it forms. Adjacent valleys might get a scattered rain drop or two, as well as some gusty outflow winds. These storms will carry their standard suite of risks with lightning, gusty wind, and small hail a possibility. Widespread hydrological concerns are not anticipated today. Storms will diminish in the evening and another quiet night will close out the weekend. Monday will see a return of another active storm cycle as a series of shortwave pulses rotate around the high again. Much of this will be initiated by the approaching closed low passing through northern Montana. Deeper monsoonal moisture advects back into northeast Utah and northwest Colorado ahead of this system. PWAT values in excess of 1 inch are forecasted Monday morning. Afternoon heating will likely initiate convection on higher terrain, but the main event will be shortwave energy interacting with the monsoonal plume. The best moisture will reside north of I-70, thereby keeping some of the best chances for heavy precipitation in that corridor as well. Storms will likely form over the Tavaputs and Roan Cliffs, as well as the Uncompahgre Plateau, La Sal Mountains, and Uinta Basin, moving eastward through the early evening. High resolution models are depicting more training convection along the Colorado River, which will likely impact burn scars at Pine Gulch and Grizzly Creek. Hydrological concerns beyond burn scars will include small stream flooding in the vicinity of heavy rain showers. Storms will diminish in the late evening and should push out of the CWA after midnight. .LONG TERM...(Monday night through Saturday) Issued at 337 AM MDT Sun Jul 17 2022 On Tuesday, a low pressure will track eastward along the US/CA border and as this takes place the high pressure over our region will get shunted to the south. Ultimately, this will keep us in westerly flow, which is tapped into a reservoir of moisture that is currently over the Great Basin. The end result will be scattered convection in the afternoon with perhaps a focus over the northern forecast area where the moisture is slightly higher. On Wednesday, things change a bit in regards to dry air in the wake of the low pressure system. Models show that this dry air may begin to eat away at the pool of moisture over the Great Basin and portions of our area. Therefore we may see a down tick in afternoon storm coverage and intensity. There will still be sufficient moisture to produce heavy rainfall in pockets where convection is most intense or trains over locations. By Thursday, PWATs reach normal values as the high remains situated just south of the Four Corners. Again, the residual moisture trapped near the high will still support afternoon storms over the higher terrain. By late week and into the weekend the models still show a trough moving over the West Coast, which causes the high to drift out over the plains. Moisture over the Desert Southwest increases during this period and eventually advects towards our region in this southwest flow. There is still some model differences on how that trough evolves once it pushes into the Intermountain West. None the less overall synoptic features stay the same, but subtle changes dictate the strength and placement of the moisture plume coming out of the Desert Southwest. With all that said indications are that the PWATs will once again climb over normal values and result in more widespread convection this weekend. Prior to the high moving temperatures have a good chance of being above normal, but once it moves out over the plains we may get closer to seasonable values. Daytime heating will be locally dictated by cloud cover and precipitation, which leads to a bit uncertainty in the temperature forecasts. && .AVIATION...(For the 18Z TAFS through 18Z Monday afternoon) Issued at 1148 AM MDT Sun Jul 17 2022 High confidence in VFR conditions most places during the period, except for San Juan mountains including KTEX and toward the central Divide mountains including KGUC. Scattered showers and storms will develop and last into the mid evening hours in those locations, brining localized lower ceilings and visibility. Gusty outflow winds likely under the stronger storms and a general push downvalley over KMTJ and KGJT can be expected this afternoon and evening. Storms near KDRO and the evolution of convection overnight for the San Juan mountains is less confident, but left VCTS/VCSH in the forecast for those locations. && .GJT WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... CO...Heat Advisory until 8 PM MDT this evening for COZ006. UT...Heat Advisory until 8 PM MDT this evening for UTZ022-027-029. && SHORT TERM...LTB LONG TERM...KJS AVIATION...BM
Hazardous Weather Outlook National Weather Service Grand Junction CO 557 AM MDT Sun Jul 17 2022 COZ001>014-017>023-UTZ022>025-027>029-181200- 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-Flat Tops- 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- 557 AM MDT Sun Jul 17 2022 This hazardous weather outlook is for eastern Utah and western Colorado. .DAY ONE...Today and Tonight Scattered afternoon storms are expected today, primarily south of I-70. Storms will be capable of producing gusty outflow winds and small hail. A few stronger storms could produce heavy rain showers and localized flooding. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...Monday through Saturday Widespread convection will develop Monday afternoon. Daily thunderstorms remain possible through the remainder of the week with the better chances in the higher terrain. Coverage and intensity of storms may change from day to day. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... Spotter activation will not be needed.
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
2 excessive heat. Local standard time, as filed.
High temperatures of 103 to 110 degrees were reported by various automated weather stations.
High temperatures of 98 to 104 degrees were reported by various automated weather stations. On the evening of Sunday, July 17, Canyonlands National Park staff received a report of a missing male subject who was overdue after attempting a short hike from Elephant Hill in the Needles District that afternoon. The body of the missing hiker was later found on Tuesday, July 19. The hiker is suspected to have died from heat-related illness.
As the offices recorded each death: direct deaths were caused by the weather itself, indirect ones by something it set in motion.
| Event | Date | Age | Sex | Where | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Excessive Heat, Canyonlands / Natural Bridges | 2022-07-17 | Male | Outside/Open Areas | Direct |
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Utah in 2022Every state in 2022This day in weather historyWarnings in Utah, July 2022
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: 1033448, 1033449.