textproduct: Salt Lake City

KEY MESSAGES, Issued 1009 PM MDT Fri Sep 11 2026

- A marginal risk (level 1/4) for excessive rainfall is in place across portions of southern Utah through Tuesday.

- Gusty winds up to 45 mph will develop across portions of northern Utah Saturday night into early Sunday morning. Wind gusts to 40 mph will continue behind the cold front through Sunday evening.

DISCUSSION, Issued 225 PM MDT Fri Sep 11 2026

While an increase in moisture is noted across the central and southern portions of Utah this afternoon, the coverage of showers and thunderstorms is rather dismal as originally anticipated. That said, it is evident that the environment is conducive to thunderstorms and heavy rainfall as SPC mesoanalysis suggests upwards of 1500-2000J/kg of CAPE paired with PWAT values around 1 inch in southern Utah. One singular storm moving across the southern area has been able to tap into this instability and maintain itself while the remainder of the thunderstorm activity has been rather short-lived. In any case, moisture has positioned itself in place across the southern half of Utah and will continue to increase subtly over the next couple of days.

Coverage of showers and thunderstorms is anticipated to be just as isolated on Saturday as weak subsidence in the wake of the current shortwave inhibits widespread thunderstorm activity. The more noteworthy widespread weather that Saturday will feature will be an increase in southwest winds across much of the region, with the strongest winds targeting west-central and southwest Utah, as well as southwest Wyoming. In these areas, afternoon wind gusts will reach upwards of 30-35 mph as a trough remains over the PacNW region. This trough is slated to progress inland and graze northern Utah through the second half of Sunday and into Monday morning, introducing a cold front to the northern area. Behind the cold front, a brief period of stronger west to northwest winds can be expected in northern Utah on the lee sides of mountain ranges.

Cooler temperatures are expected in the wake of the cold front on Monday across the northern area, with warm southerly return flow bringing a gradual warming trend into the middle of the week. For southern Utah, some level of moisture will remain in place from now through next week, bringing at least a chance for showers and thunderstorms each afternoon.

AVIATION, Issued 1009 PM MDT Fri Sep 11 2026

KSLC...The SLC terminal will see VFR conditions through the overnight hours with mostly clear skies. Southerly winds will continue through the morning, shifting to the northwest between 19Z and 21Z.

REST OF UTAH AND SOUTHWEST WYOMING...The entire airspace will see VFR conditions through the overnight hours. The northern two-thirds of the airspace is expected to remain dry with mostly clear skies and terrain driven winds. A few showers and storms continue over southern Utah this evening, with a line from near Milford to near Hanksville expected to see some showers continuing overnight. Any storms that develop will have the potential to produce gusty and erratic thunderstorm winds. Some storms are then expected to develop Saturday afternoon, primarily focused over eastern portions of the airspace.

FIRE WEATHER

Sufficient moisture will linger across portions of southern and eastern Utah, resulting in isolated showers and thunderstorms primarily during the daytime hours. A stronger approaching system will bring gusty conditions, generally from the south to southwest into Sunday. A largely dry associated cold frontal boundary will be pushed southward through Utah roughly late Sunday into the daytime Monday. Following this frontal passage, winds will generally shift north to northwest, with a period of gusty winds also likely to accompany it. This will be especially true for the lee sides of northern Utah mountain ranges and terrain features. Cooler temperatures will follow the front, with the more pronounced temperature drops noted across the northern half of Utah. Temperatures will then gradually trend upwards throughout the upcoming week. Humidity overall will remain fairly low with daytime minimum values in valley locations likely falling into the teens. That said, enough moisture will linger to allow isolated high based shower and thunderstorm chances across portions of southern and eastern Utah, primarily during the day, through the upcoming week.

SLC WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES

UT...None. WY...None.