SALT LAKE CITY (ABC4) – Happy Friday, Utah! A major weather pattern shift is underway, with wet weather making a return and gusty southerly winds blowing.

The bottom line?  Increasing monsoon moisture through the day with gusty southerly winds and widespread shower, storm and flood potential. 

While some saw nocturnal storms and showers, moisture continues to surge northward bringing a good chance of scattered showers and thunderstorms statewide. While not everyone is likely to find wet weather, for most locations there will be better than a 1 in 3 chance and there will be some that see multiple rounds of heavy rain.

Outside of any wet weather, we’ll see partly to mostly cloudy skies with daytime highs that will be about 5-10 degrees cooler than yesterday, which will be on par with seasonal norms.

With strong winds on deck for Friday, a Wind Advisory has been issued until 6 p.m. The advisory impacts the NW corner of the state and the West Desert. Expect sustained winds between 20-30 miles per hour with gusts up to 50 miles per hour. Strong crosswinds over I-80 from Nevada to Salt Lake City could impact travel.

This advisory includes the Tooele and Rush Valleys, a portion of Box Elder County and the Great Salt Lake Desert and mountains. The other weather alert posted is linked to heavy rain. A Flood Watch went into effect at midnight and will hold through Saturday evening for Southwestern Utah including parts of Washington, Iron, Beaver and Sevier Counties.

The Watch also includes areas around Capitol Reef, Bryce Canyon, Grand Staircase and Kanab. This watch means these areas could see flash flooding due to excessive rainfall. Remember to never cross flood waters and seek higher ground in the event of heavy rain.

While severe storms are unlikely, there is a low-end severe risk for the western side of the state, along the Wasatch Front, Cache Valley and SW desert with the main threats being strong winds and heavy rain.  With increasing moisture potential, the risk of flash flooding will be increasing across southern Utah. Today our National Parks fall into the “probable” category along with the surrounding areas of the Mighty 5.

The most severe flash flood risk today will be for Zion National Park where flash flooding is expected. That risk will likely continue through the entirety of the Labor Day weekend. While many are anxious to get outdoors for the Labor Day Weekend, the flash flood potential is something to be monitored closely. It will not be safe to travel in slot canyons, normally dry washes, drainages and low-lying areas. The flash flood threat shifts by Sunday and Monday to include Northern Utah. With saturated soils and a passing cold front, widespread storms are expected Sunday along the Wasatch Front and flooding can’t be ruled out in Northern Utah and SW Wyoming.

As we trek through Labor Day weekend, we won’t see many changes with the overall setup. We’ll hold onto wet weather potential and the chance for storms lingers through the holiday on Monday with temperatures that will gradually be easing down each day from Friday through the weekend. By Labor Day on Monday, we could see mid-70s in Salt Lake and mid-80s in St. George! Past Labor Day, we’ll start to dry things out as temperatures gradually ease up to near seasonal averages by the middle of the workweek. 

Stay on top of the latest weather changes with Utah’s 4Warn Forecast both on-air and online! We are Good4Utah!