This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2011, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
When it comes to forecasting northern Utah's flooding future, you can take your pick between myriad county, state and federal agencies watching the state's churning waterways.
Or, you could just quote baseball legend Yogi Berra: "It ain't over 'til it's over."
The National Weather Service, noting the region's soaring temperatures and its still bountiful mountain snow packs, put extensive swatches of the state under flood watches and warnings on Tuesday. The Salt Lake and Utah valleys, the western Uinta Basin, Rich County and the Wasatch Mountains north of Interstate 80 all were deemed at risk for fresh flooding.
Residents of two homes in Cache County's Providence evacuated early Tuesday morning when Spring Creek breached levees in several locations. Forecasters issued a flood warning for the creek, though the creek was gradually retreating as the day progressed.
"The water's gone back down now, but we did have some really high flows last night with a little flooding around 300 East and Center Street in Providence," Rick Williams, Cache County's emergency services manager, said Tuesday.
No homes were flooded, he said, and the evacuations — totaling eight people — were voluntary. Two families were put up in a local motel overnight and were expected to return home later Tuesday.
Crews worked through the night to repair the levee breaches.
Meanwhile, temperatures Tuesday pegged the mid-90s to near 100 degrees throughout northern Utah, and even Park City — often a cooler refuge for heat-plagued valley residents — flirted with a high of 87. Eastern Utah hit the low-90s, while southern Utah baked in the mid-90s to a high of 105 degrees in St. George.
The heat will translate to increased flooding potential along more than half a dozen rivers and creeks throughout the state. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration noted that Cache County's Logan River started Tuesday already over its 5-foot flood stage and was expected to peak around 6 feet by 11 p.m. Wednesday; the Weber River, at its 9.3-foot flood stage as Tuesday dawned, was rising toward a 10.5-foot mark by early Wednesday afternoon; eastern Utah's Green and Duchesne rivers both were over flood stage Tuesday morning, and while the Green was expected to retreat over the next two days, the Duchesne was forecast to reach 9.5 feet Thursday afternoon — more than a foot over its official flood stage (8.4 feet).
In Salt Lake County, floodwatchers again locked their eyeballs on monitors tracking Little and Big Cottonwood creeks. Little Cottonwood was slopping over its bank-full level as the sun rose Tuesday, and the creek was expected to once again top its 799 cubic feet per second flood stage by 11 p.m. Tuesday on the way to a peak of 930 cfs by Wednesday mid-afternoon; Big Cottonwood, at 590 cfs early Tuesday, was projected to hit 845 cfs by early Wednesday afternoon, well above its 799 cfs flood stage.
In Utah County, public works crews braced for increased flows in the American Fork and Provo rivers. The American Fork was to ease past its 8.5-foot flood stage by 11:30 p.m. Wednesday, while the Provo — bank-full Tuesday morning — was headed toward its 7-foot flood stage by late Wednesday afternoon.
In southern Utah, the heat, combined with gusty winds and parched sagebrush, juniper, pinyon and cheatgrass, translated to "red flag" wildfire warnings. Of concern to firefighters were southwestern Utah's deserts and mountains, Arches, Canyonlands and Zion national parks, the Natural Bridges National Monument, the LaSal and Abajo mountain ranges and southern San Juan County.
Indeed, 650 acres of high desert range were reported ablaze near Fredonia, just south of the Utah-Arizona line and 70 miles east of St. George, early Tuesday. However, crews got the upper hand overnight and expected to have the blaze fully contained by nightfall Tuesday.
Wednesday's temperatures were to ease some, though Utah will still be hot: northern and eastern Utah's highs will dip into the high-80s and low-90s, while southern Utah's thermometers will slide into mostly the upper-80s, with the exception of a 100-degree high in St. George.
Track your river or creek's rise: