SALT LAKE CITY (ABC4) – Happy Monday, Utah! A more active pattern will help push the lingering smoke away but will result in more storms as temperatures stay above average.

Hopefully, your week is off to a good start. Through the first half of today, it will be warm, hazy, and breezy. The haze is thanks to the lingering Canadian Wildfire smoke that came in when we had a northeasterly wind in the upper levels of the atmosphere. That smoke won’t be sticking around because an upper-level trough will be moving into the western United States and in the coming days, we’ll see more of a southwesterly wind allowing that smoke to move away, beginning today! 

Another product of that system coming into the western United States will be more moisture, more energy, and more warmth. This will usher in a more active pattern as we go through the next several days. Across the state, we’ll have the chance for isolated to scattered showers and thunderstorms with the best chance coming this afternoon into tonight. Storms will generally develop over higher terrain and then move into adjacent valleys. 

Not everyone gets wet weather today/tonight, but the chance will exist for everyone, so anyone with outdoor plans will need to keep the weather in mind. Where that will be especially important will be the Mighty 5 and recreation areas in southern Utah including the swell, the staircase, and Lake Powell. Flash Flooding will be possible with storms and it’s even a probability at Capitol Reef. For any backcountry hiking plans that involve slot canyons and dry washes, it’s important to have multiple ways to receive warnings and have a plan. 

Outside of any wet weather today will bring mostly sunny to partly cloudy skies as daytime highs climb to roughly 5-10 degrees above seasonal norms with most reaching the 70s and 80s outside of mountain areas. St. Geroge will once again come in the warm spot with a high in the low 90s. As we go into tonight the wet weather potential will begin to drop for most, but it won’t go away completely. We could even see passing showers with maybe a few rumbles during the overnight with the best chance being in northern Utah.

As we go through the next couple of days, we’ll keep showers and storms in the forecast, but the best chance for wet weather will migrate into northern Utah. Tuesday will bring scattered activity to northern Utah while we will likely see isolated activity down south.

Also, tomorrow brings a marginal risk of excessive rainfall that could lead to flooding in the northern half of Utah and in northeast Nevada. Daytime highs will be similar to what we get today. The wet weather potential on Wednesday won’t be quite as high compared to what we see tomorrow, but the overall pattern won’t look too different, and we get more of the same for the rest of the workweek. This is one of those patterns where some may see multiple rounds of wet weather from today through Friday while some get very little or nothing.

FLOOD ALERTS

Warming temperatures this week mean that flood concerns continue with multiple flood watches and warnings. We currently have 3 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 South Fork of the Ogden River near Huntsville remain in effect until further notice. 

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.

A flood watch continues for the Little Bear River below the Hyrum Dam and the low Weber River near Plain City. 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 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. 

Stay on top of all of Utah’s changing weather and flood concerns with Utah’s Most Accurate Forecast both on-air and online. We are Good4Utah!