Advisories issued as more rain, snow return to Utah, including areas recovering from floods

SALT LAKE CITY — Another series of flood watches has been issued for most of southern Utah and parts of central and eastern Utah, as an atmospheric river and cold front are forecast to collide over the state this weekend.

The National Weather Service's Salt Lake City and Grand Junction, Colorado offices issued the watches for the Utah regions, which go into effect late Halloween night and last through most of the rest of the weekend.

Both offices agree that "moderate to at times heavy precipitation" is expected within the highlighted regions beginning late Saturday and lasting throughout most of Sunday. The watches in southeastern Utah last through Monday morning.

"Excessive runoff may result in flooding of rivers, creeks, streams, dry washes, slot canyons and other low-lying, and flood-prone locations such as slickrock areas and recent burn scars," the alerts state.

Early flooding

Scattered showers and thunderstorms are forecast across the state ahead of the weekend, especially in southern, central and eastern Utah on Friday.

It's already produced enough that the National Weather Service issued a flood warning for the upper Santa Clara River in Pine Valley, Washington County, which lasts through 9 p.m. Between 0.5 inches and 1 inch of rain has already fallen, and another 1-1½ inches is possible over the next few hours, the alert says.

"Flooding of the upper Santa Clara River in Pine Valley downstream to just below Baker Reservoir is imminent or occurring," it stated.

Some moisture is to make its way into the Wasatch Front in the afternoon and evening, as well, while some isolated showers are possible across the state on Halloween, Saturday.

Stronger storm ahead

The bulk of the incoming moisture is expected on Sunday and potentially early next week, especially along the Wasatch Front and northern Utah, as well as southern Utah, KSL meteorologist Matt Johnson said.

KSL weather models updated on Friday call for 1-3 inches of precipitation in most mountain areas, with potentially higher totals near Brian Head and the mountains of southeastern Utah.

Most higher mountain areas have the potential to receive 4-8 inches of snow because of the cold front, but Brian Head could end up with upwards of a foot, the upper Cottonwood Canyons could end up with 8-16 inches and the Uintas could receive even higher totals.

Many valley locations could receive at least 0.5 inches of precipitation, with over an inch possible, especially in the Wasatch Front, northern Utah and southern Utah, because of the pattern's configuration.

Ongoing flood risks

The incoming patterns are arriving after previous storms over the past two weeks led to severe flooding across parts of southern Utah. Lt. Gov. Deidre Henderson toured flood-damaged communities in San Juan County on Thursday, where some families are still unable to return to their homes due to recent flooding.

Hurricane, in southwest Utah, declared a state of emergency over flash flooding on Oct. 22.

These types of areas could be at risk for additional flooding, said Erin Walter, a hydrologist for the National Weather Service's Grand Junction office. Her office is mostly concerned about the same Four Corners area that flooded last week.

"We are really concerned, too, with impacts across the San Juans, where we're still recovering from last week's system and widespread minor to major flooding impacts," she said, noting that the probability of excessive rainfall is slight across southern Utah, but now "moderate" within its southeast corner, including Monticello, and the rest of the Four Corners region.

It could impact the same areas that flooded last week, she added.

All flood watches can be elevated to warnings, depending on where strong precipitation sets up.

Full seven-day forecasts for areas across Utah are available at the KSL Weather Center or on the KSL Weather app.

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