Monday’s scattered storms in south and central Utah gave residents a glimpse of what the rest of the week could look like as a high-pressure system brings moisture to those parts of the state.
The National Weather Service forecasters say this storm system — and potential for isolated rainfall and other severe weather — will stay in much of Utah and southwest Wyoming through the rest of the week.
The best chance for rain, NWS says, will come in the afternoon and evening and diminish as temperatures fall into the night. There’s a chance of showers (and strong storms) in all but the extreme northeast parts of Utah.
Into the latter part of the week, forecasters expect the biggest potential for heavy rainfall and thunderstorms to be along the spine, or to the east, of Utah’s central and southern mountains.
That threat will spread to all of southern Utah by the weekend, NWS said.
Temperatures are likely to remain in the normal range for central and southern Utah, and be slightly higher than normal in northern Utah.
In Salt Lake City, NWS forecasters said temperatures for the rest of the week will bounce between the low-to-mid 70s and the mid-to-high 90s. In Cedar City, where there’s a chance of thunderstorms all week, temperatures are slightly lower with highs in the mid-to-upper 80s and lows in the high 60s.
The slow-moving storm system dumped about 0.9 inches of rain Monday on Cedar City, NWS said. Since July 13, the city has received nearly half of its 3.09-inch rainfall total for 2021 so far, but is below its normal rainfall total by more than 5 inches.
The rain that fell Monday in that part of southern Utah prompted flash flood warnings and advisories.
A flash flood warning for the New Harmony area, south of Cedar City and including Pinto and Ash creeks, was in effect until 9 p.m. Monday.
As rain fell Monday afternoon, NWS warned motorists traveling on Highway 56 west of Cedar City to watch out for hail as large as pingpong balls and wind gusts up to 60 mph, in addition to the heavy rainfall.
Jesse Harris, a Cedar City resident, posted a video of his neighborhood just after 2:30 p.m. Video shows several inches of water rushing down the street toward his vehicle. He said he worried he wouldn’t be able to get to his home and noted the flood was washing away lawns.
“This is nuts,” he says.
The NWS advised these floods could be life-threatening, and said motorists should not drive on flooded roads.
More storms, part of this same high-pressure system spreading north, also found their way into parts of Utah and Salt Lake counties on Monday, producing scattered showers as people prepared for their evening commute.
The NWS issued a significant weather advisory for that area and warned people there — especially those at Utah Lake — of gusty winds. That advisory lapsed at 4:30 p.m.
Forecasters there said there was an increased potential for thunderstorms and rain along the Wasatch Front until 6 p.m. — “though it currently seems like rainfall totals will be fairly limited.”
Many people took to social media to post footage of the rare rainfall. One user called it a “sight for sore eyes.”
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