Flood risks linger across Utah to close out meteorological summer

KEY TAKEAWAYS

Flood risks persist in Utah as meteorological summer ends with heavy rainfall.
Flash flood warnings in Kane County and other areas due to excessive runoff.
Drier conditions expected midweek but more moisture forecasted by Labor Day weekend.

SALT LAKE CITY — A flood watch remains in effect for many parts of central and southern Utah, but all areas of the state may continue to receive moisture on Monday as the state closes out its meteorological summer on a wet note.

National Weather Service watches span from Nephi and Price to St. George and Lake Powell, where "excessive runoff" could cause flash flooding in slot canyons, streams and rivers and other flood-prone locations. The alerts specifically call out Widemouth 2, Cottonwood, Monroe Canyon, Forsyth and other recent wildfire burn scars as areas of greater concern.

A flash flood warning remains in place for southern Kane County through 10:30 a.m. Monday, and additional flash flood warnings could be issued as storms materialize in certain locations.

Some communities have made sandbags available, while hikers are urged to consider alternate plans, especially at Utah's national and state parks.

The risks come from tropical, monsoonal moisture that has fused with a low-pressure system over Arizona, said KSL meteorologist Matt Johnson. The system is forecast to move north into Utah, where it will merge with a low-pressure system moving in from California.

"(When) you clash low pressure and tropical moisture, you're getting activity," he said, adding that most of the activity is expected to begin in the afternoon, when daytime heat helps storms develop over the state.

Scattered showers and thunderstorms are possible across the state this evening as the system moves toward eastern Utah. Most remaining storm activity will linger into late Monday and early Tuesday.

The middle part of the state has the strongest odds of heavy rainfall from the storms, per the National Weather Service. It lists most of south-central Utah as having a "moderate" risk of excessive rainfall, while most of the rest of the state has a "slight" risk. Northern Utah and the West Desert are listed as having "marginal" risk, the lowest within the elevated index.

There is an ongoing threat of flash flooding that will persist through at least Sunday evening, and the threat will increase throughout the day on Monday. Those planning recreation in rain sensitive areas should consider other plans, and all should remain weather aware. #utwx pic.twitter.com/5GNdekum6r
— NWS Salt Lake City (@NWSSaltLakeCity) August 30, 2026

A wet end to summer

Monday's storms follow an active weekend across the drought-stricken state. Many communities across Utah received over an inch during the weekend. Huntington, Emery County, received nearly 2.4 inches, leading all recorded communities in weekend precipitation.

However, storms also produced severe weather, including damaging winds and hail, as well as flooding, especially in central Utah. U.S. 6 was briefly closed on Sunday at Indian Canyon because of mudslides, but it reopened late in the day.

The storms all but secured this summer as being wetter than normal across most Utah regions. Salt Lake City, for example, entered the final day of the meteorological season with 2.57 inches of rain, exceeding its normal of 2 inches. Over 90% of its summer collection fell after July 20, past the season's midway point.

Similar stories played out elsewhere. Utah's statewide mountain sites have already collected, on average, 5.3 inches this summer, 1.1 inches above their normal for the season. Statewide soil moisture levels at the same mountain sites are now, on average, well above normal to close out summer, per the Natural Resources Conservation Service.

Drier conditions are forecast throughout the state for most of the rest of the workweek, but more tropical moisture is projected to reach the state by the Labor Day weekend, Johnson said. It means Utah's meteorological fall could pick up where summer left off.

It comes as over 90% of the state remains in at least severe drought, including over 40% in the U.S. Drought Monitor's extreme or exceptional categories.

The Key Takeaways for this article were generated with the assistance of large language models and reviewed by our editorial team. The article, itself, is solely human-written.