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- Remnants of Hurricane Priscilla brought significant rain to Utah, aiding drought conditions statewide.
- New Harmony, Washington County, received 5.15 inches of rain, creating flooding that also ravaged parts of the state.
- More rain is expected this week in what could be one of the wettest Octobers in state history.
SALT LAKE CITY — The remnants of Hurricane Priscilla provided as much precipitation as advertised, bringing big totals to drought-stricken Utah over the weekend. But the storm also created some significant challenges across the state.
And there's more moisture churning across the Beehive State this week, in what could end up being a record-setting month for water.
Big storm totals and impacts
New Harmony, Washington County, led the state in precipitation, collecting 5.15 inches of rain between Thursday and late Saturday. That also led to flooding issues, especially by the Forsyth Fire burn scar in nearby Pine Valley, Washington County.
Other central, eastern and southern Utah locations received plenty of rain:
- Boulder Summit: 3.97 inches
- Kanarraville, Iron County: 3.49 inches
- Cedar Canyon: 3.2 inches
- Book Cliff Mountains: 2.6 inches
- Monticello: 1.92 inches
- Cedar City: 1.48 inches
- Panguitch: 1.39 inches
- Helper: 1.34 inches
- Beaver: 1.29 inches
- Vernal: 1.24 inches
- Moab: 1.22 inches
- St. George: 0.96 inches
"It doesn't matter where you were, you saw a half-inch to an inch of water," said KSL meteorologist Matt Johnson, of the regions.
It sparked additional flooding, though. For instance, Grand County emergency crews rescued a pair of people whose pickup truck got caught by the rising waters, according to the Grand County Sheriff's Office.
The Wasatch Front and northern Utah also experienced a jolt of rain, especially as a cold front swept through the region Saturday evening. Salt Lake City officially received 0.87 inches of precipitation over the weekend, but a weather site in its Avenues neighborhood received 1.61 inches. South Salt Lake, Spanish Fork and Tooele all ended up with over an inch of rain, while Centerville, Brigham City and Logan all ended up with two-thirds of an inch or more.
Strong winds with the cold front were blamed for a scaffolding collapse that killed a woman who was leaving Redwest Music Festival in Salt Lake City after the concert's second evening was canceled by the weather. A family of four hiking in Big Cottonwood Canyon was also rescued when the storm brought wintry conditions to Utah's mountains.
The storm delivered a few inches of snow across the Wasatch Mountains, including 4 inches at the National Weather Service's Alta site.
Chipping away at drought?
On a positive note, the storm keeps Salt Lake City on track for its best start to a water year in the 151 years that the National Weather Service has tracked data in Utah's capital. At 3.48 inches of precipitation as of Monday, this month is already the city's sixth-wettest October since 1874, and it only needs 0.44 inches to top 1981 for the record.
Salt Lake City's 2026 water year is already 3 inches above normal for the first two weeks, following its 2025 water year, which ended up 4.77 inches below normal. That's representative of the state, which remains mostly in severe drought. Over 70% of Utah is either in severe or extreme drought, while the rest is in moderate drought, per the U.S. Drought Monitor.
Conditions could improve somewhat by its next report on Thursday, which will better show Hurricane Priscilla's impact on the statewide drought. That said, the average soil moisture conditions at over 140 mountain sites across the state had surged from 5 percentage points below normal at the start of October to about 6 percentage points above normal for this point in the year, as of Monday, according to the Natural Resources Conservation Service.
That could bode well for the forthcoming snowpack, if it remains close to normal, as strong soil moisture levels in the fall result in improved snowmelt efficiency in the spring. About 95% of the state's water supply is tied to its mountain snowpack.
More rain this week
The unsettled weather has lasted longer than initially forecast. Another system will produce more storms across the state on Monday, largely in the latter half of the day. A low-pressure system will impact Utah's western half again on Tuesday evening and into Wednesday, Johnson said.
It has the potential to produce an additional quarter to half-inch of precipitation or more by Wednesday evening, which could even help Salt Lake City break its 44-year-old October record.
Some additional rain is possible later in the week, especially along the Wasatch Front, but drier conditions are generally expected toward the second half of the week.
Full seven-day forecasts for areas across Utah can be found online at the KSL Weather Center.
