Active weather continues for Memorial Day Weekend

SALT LAKE CITY (ABC4) — Happy Memorial Day Weekend, Utah! Sunday remains active with afternoon showers and storms across northern Utah. Drier weather slides in for Memorial Day.

I hope everyone is enjoying the periods of sunshine and scattered afternoon showers and thunderstorms so far this weekend. We repeat the pattern today with showers across northern portions of the state this morning and along central and northern Utah this afternoon and evening.

Temperatures will once again be near seasonal averages with highs in the 70s for the Wasatch Front, and low 90s for St. George. Dry weather is expected for southern Utah today with breezy winds statewide.

Southerly flow will increase on Memorial Day and help dry us out. This means that if you’re heading out early to participate in any of the early morning ceremonies, you can plan on mostly clear skies and near-seasonal temperatures.

By the afternoon, warmer than normal temperatures are expected with most areas along the Wasatch Front in the low to mid-80s, and low 90s remain in St. George. There is a slight chance of a few pop-up thunderstorms over the higher elevations of far northern Utah, otherwise, the lower valleys should remain dry.

A low-pressure feature to the west of the region will keep the southwest flow in place through Wednesday. Moisture will begin working its way back into the state for the second half of the week as trough approaches.

Isolated to scattered thunderstorms are expected late Wednesday across northern Utah with additional showers through Saturday. Temperatures will fall back down into the 70s on Thursday as a trough moves through with near-seasonal highs into the weekend.

For southern Utah, after a mostly quiet week, thunderstorms could return by the end of the week with potential showers over the weekend as well.

Flood Alerts

Spring runoff continues in Utah and flood concerns reamin with multiple flood watches and warnings. We currently have three flood warnings in effect.

The warning for the Bear River in Rich County has been extended through next Friday. The flood warning for the Sevier River near Hatch and the flood warning for the Logan River near Logan as minor flooding is expected.

A Flood Advisory is in effect for the Bear River as farmland and roads see minor flooding near Corinne. We also have a flood advisory in Eastern Utah for the Dolores River and the Colorado Rivers near Cisco that’s causing some minor flooding in Grand County. The Flood Watch for the Green River near Jensen has been upgraded to an advisory one that will continue through the weekend.

The newest advisory is a flood advisory for the Duchesne River at Randlett until further notice as minor flooding of low-lying agriculture land along the river is expected.

A flood watch continues for Little Bear River below the Hyrum Dam and the low Weber River near Plain City. The Flood Watch for the Duchesne River near Myton is the newest alert as the river is expected to climb close to the flood stage.

For context, a flood warning means that flooding is either occurring now or is expected, an advisory means that either minor flooding is occurring or that the waterway is above the action stage with the potential for flooding, and a watch means that flooding is possible.

Even for waterways not in alert, they will continue to run high, fast, cold, and extremely dangerous as our snowpack melts and as water is released from reservoirs. Be sure to keep a safe distance from raging waters.