Effects of Hurricanes

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Moisture from the remnants of tropical storms or hurricanes occasionally reaches Utah from the Gulf of Mexico or the eastern Pacific near Baja California. This very moist air occasionally produces heavy rain and hail over parts of Utah.

One of these events occurred in the Fall of 1982, when severe flooding caused damage in excess of $5,000,000 in the Salt Lake Valley. The rains were attributed to considerable tropical moisture that moved into the state from dying Hurricane Olivia and the energy supplied from an active cold front and its upper-level low pressure system.

The precipitation associated with this storm began in extreme northern Utah on September 24, 1982. The main cold front moved into the area about September 26th, producing torrential rains in Davis, Salt Lake, and Utah Counties. Accumulations of around two to three inches in a twelve-hour period were reported. By the time the storm had passed, some locations in the above mentioned counties had accumulated over 6.5 inches of moisture.

Much of the information for this section originally appeared in the copyrighted book Utah's Weather and Climate, edited by Dan Pope and Clayton Brough, in 1996. UCCW Directors have received permission from the copyright owners of this book to reproduce such information on its website and to revise and updated it where appropriate.