A vehicle stopped in the rain for a project in Big Cottonwood Canyon Monday. Parts of the Cottonwood Canyons received as much as a half-inch of rain during the day. (Utah Department of Transportation)
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SALT LAKE CITY — The same storm system that caused widespread flooding to areas north of Utah, including a shutdown of Yellowstone National Park, produced up to a half-inch of much-needed rain in parts of Utah on Monday, according to National Weather Service .
And it’s possible that more rain is on the way after another miniature heatwave forecast for later in the week.
Wellsville was Monday morning’s winner, collecting 0.54 inches of rain by 9 am, according to the weather service. One of the Little Cottonwood Canyon stations also received a half-inch of rain from the storm that caught the northern half of Utah as the first stage of the storm moved through from the Pacific Northwest.
Salt Lake City officially received 0.18 inches, which isn’t a ton but also accounts for nearly one-fifth of the city’s entire 30-year June normal.
The storm is expected to clear out of Utah by Tuesday morning. KSL meteorologist Matt Johnson explained that dry air blowing in from the south prevented the system from producing even more rain; however, given the drought and summer averages, there’s no reason to complain about what fell Monday.
“For a mid-June storm, it’s impressive,” he said.
The storm system also knocked high temperatures down by about 30 degrees across the state. In fact, the weather service says places like Bryce Canyon, Ephraim, Manti, Panguitch and Randolph will likely have to deal with freezing overnight temperatures Tuesday; Randolph may also have that again early Wednesday.
The reprieve from the heat won’t last long. High temperatures are forecast to return to near 100 degrees along the Wasatch Front Thursday and Friday, much like the conditions before Monday’s rain. Salt Lake City’s 102 degrees recorded on Sunday beat a previous daily record set in 1918.
Triple-digit temperatures are also forecast for southern parts of the state by the end of the week.
However, more rain is possible by the weekend. Johnson said a “temporary monsoonal surge” is projected to reach as far north as Salt Lake City this upcoming weekend, resulting in some additional June rain and thunderstorms. The likelihood of precipitation is currently about 10% to 40%, depending on the location, according to Johnson.
“We’ll take the heat as long as it comes with some showers, hopefully,” he said.
Full seven-day forecasts for areas across Utah can be found online at the KSL Weather Center.
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Carter Williams is an award-winning reporter who covers general news, outdoors, history and sports for KSL.com. He previously worked for the Deseret News. He is a Utah transplant by the way of Rochester, New York.
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