Skip to Content
Homeland Security and Emergency Management
DATE: July 9, 2011 8:10:38 AM MDT

Public flooding situation report/Weather briefing for July 9, 2011, a.m.

Utah Department of Public Safety
Division of Emergency Management
Situation report for July 9, 2011
After this weekend, these reports are going to start getting shorter, I think.

State Emergency Operations Center: Activation Level 2 – Partial Activation

If your agency has an area of concern that needs to be added to this situation report, please contact your emergency manager, your Division of Emergency Management liaison, or reply to this e-mail.
If you or someone you know would like to receive these reports each day, visit UtahEmergencyInfo.com, roll your mouse over "Contact" and click "Join Mailing List."

WHAT'S NEW SINCE FRIDAY MORNING: Flood warning gone for Logan River and Little Cottonwood Creek, UDOT says Guardsman Pass will be the last road to open this year  Link to the previous situation report

Dam/Reservoir info: East Canyon, Causey, Scofield (controlled), Settlement Canyon, Pineview (controlled), Wanship, Hyrum, Upper Stillwater and others are spilling.
Jordanelle, Stateline, Deer Creek, Moon Lake, Starvation and Strawberry are pretty full.
Echo elevation dropping.

LIFE/SAFETY INCIDENTS:  We continue to urge Utahns that rivers and creeks fed by melting snow are running fast and are very cold. Hypothermia can overcome a person in a matter of minutes, and a person can be swept down a river at about 10 feet per second. Parents need to be aware of their children around water. As Gov. Herbert has said, we can replace things; we can't replace people.

CURRENT SITUATION: Most recent, and last operational, flood potential briefing from Brian McInerney, hydrologist with the National Weather Service, from June 29 (5 minutes):
http://www.wrh.noaa.gov/slc/wxbriefing/wxb29jun2011/player.html
No new briefings expected for a while.

Summary: Duchesne and Logan rivers will be the last rivers to leave flood stage. Utah is currently seeing decreasing flood threats. Logan River should drop below flood stage after the Fourth of July weekend. Weber River above Oakley should drop below flood stage Thursday or Friday. The Duchesne River near Myton normally should peak June 12. It should drop below flood stage after the Fourth of July weekend, as well.

WARNINGS/WATCHES
The warnings and watches are for gauged rivers and creeks. Many other creeks, even though they're not listed here, could still cause flooding damage.

Flood warnings in effect for the following:
Flood warning = Imminent threat or current flooding.

  • Cache County: Spring Creek. Still running high. Warning in effect until 3:45 p.m. today.
  • Daggett County: Flaming Gorge Reservoir has increased bypass flows to 8,600 cfs, which will push river levels above bankfull.
    Latest flows: 8,895 cfs Warning in effect until 3:30 p.m. Monday.
  • Duchesne County: Duchesne River near Myton. Flood stage is 8.4 feet or 5,129 cfs.
    Latest stage reported: 9.22 feet or 6,650 cfs. Warning in effect until 1 p.m. Monday.
  • Duchesne County: Rock Creek near Mountain Home. Flood stage is 5.9 feet or 2,334 cfs.
    Latest stage reported: 5.83 feet or 2,260 cfs. Warning in effect until 1 p.m. Monday.
  • Uintah County: Melting snow has led to lowland flooding near the Duchesne, Uinta, White and White Rocks rivers. Minor flooding can be expected along various creeks. Areas potentially affected include Ballard, Fort Duchesne, Maeser, Naples, Randlett, Vernal and Whiterocks. Warning in effect until 12:30 p.m. Sunday.

No flood watches in effect
Flood watch = Potential for flooding based on current forecasts.

Flood advisories in effect:

  • Uintah County: Green River near Jensen. Flood stage is 10.8 feet.
    Latest stage reported: 9.53 feet. Minor flooding forecast. Advisory in effect until this afternoon.
  • Grand and Emery counties: Green River near Green River. Flood stage is 15 feet.
    Latest stage reported: 14.44 feet. Minor flooding, as well as flow decrease, is forecast. Advisory in effect until 1:30 p.m. today.

Other rivers to note: Blue dots = good, Orange dots = not so good, Red dots = bad

WEATHER FORECAST FOR SALT LAKE CITY:

Today: Scattered showers and thunderstorms after noon. Some of the storms could produce heavy rain. Partly sunny, with a high near 87. South wind between 7 and 17 mph. Chance of precipitation is 40%.
Tonight: Scattered showers and thunderstorms, mainly before midnight. Some of the storms could produce heavy rain. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 72. South southeast wind between 5 and 8 mph. Chance of precipitation is 40%.
Sunday: A 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms, mainly after noon. Some of the storms could produce heavy rain. Partly sunny, with a high near 88. South southeast wind between 11 and 17 mph.
Monday: A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms after noon. Mostly sunny, with a high near 89. South wind around 9 mph.

AWARENESS/PREPAREDNESS LINKS:

From UDOT: http://udot.utah.gov/go/roadconditions Click on "Roadway flooding information."
From Salt Lake County Public Works: Real time county creek flows
From Emergency Management: http://utahemergencyinfo.com
From Be Ready Utah: http://BeReadyUtah.gov
Twitter.com: #utflood   @utahemergency   @UtDemEoc   @BeReadyUtah
National Weather Service Colorado Basin River Forecast Center: http://www.cbrfc.noaa.gov (This is what the forecasters use)
National Weather Service Advanced Hydrologic Prediction Service: http://water.weather.gov/ahps2/index.php?wfo=slc
National Weather Service Salt Lake City, UT: http://weather.gov/saltlakecity
National Weather Service Grand Junction, CO: http://weather.gov/gjt
U.S. Geological Survey: River alerts via e-mail or SMS
Great Salt Lake Elevations for the past 120 days: At Saltair Boat Harbor  At Saline
Bear Lake water elevations (delayed by one day)

Latest fire information: UtahFireInfo.gov

STATE AGENCY ACTIONS:

DPS, Division of Emergency Management: will remain at Activation Level 2 until we run out of flood warnings. DEM has completed its daily briefings on the flood fight. Operations staff handles information flow and coordination with SERT (State Emergency Response Team). Level  2 incidents involve routine assistance from internal and/or external agencies, including mutual aid, and coordination among state agencies and VOAD. Monitoring WebEOC and in contact with the county liaisons and PIOs.

State liaisons are working on damage assessments and working with counties on renewing their declarations. Liasons' photos Flickr stream

Department of Transportation:  Twitter.com/UtahDOT. Many state roads have been opened and only Guardsman Pass remains closed due to seasonal conditions.

Utah National Guard: is watching the status of the flooding and has various troops and engineering force packages on standby if needed.

Department of Agriculture and Food: Nothing new to report since June 23

DEQ, Division of Drinking Water: Nothing new to report since June 30

DNR, Division of Water Rights, Dam Safety:  Nothing new to report since June 27

DNR, Division of Water Rights, Stream Alterations: Nothing new to report.

DNR, Division of Wildlife Resources: Nothing new to report

DNR, Utah Geological Survey: Various landslide issues.

DNR, State Parks: Nothing new to report.

Red Cross and UVOAD: Has daily coordination with all the Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster (VOADs).

AREAS OF CONCERN:
Updated maps as of July 7

EMERGENCY DECLARATIONS RECEIVED TO DATE:

State of Utah

Counties: Morgan (re-declared), Weber (re-declared), Sevier (re-declared), Daggett, Cache, Uintah, Wasatch. Tooele and Summit

Cities: Morgan, Marriott-Slaterville, West Haven, Uintah, Logan and Riverdale (re-declared)

Tribes: Ute Tribe of the Uintah and Ouray Reservation

RECENT CITY/COUNTY/TRIBAL ACTIONS:

Beaver County: Nothing new to report since 6/7/11.

Box Elder County: Nothing new to report since 6/29/11.

Cache County: Nothing new to report since 6/29/11

Carbon County: Nothing new to report since 6/8/11

Davis County: Nothing new to report since 6/23/11

Daggett County: Nothing new to report since 7/7/11

Duchesne County: Still battling flood issues, see the previous report

Emery County: Nothing new to report since 6/16/11

Garfield County: Nothing new to report since 6/7/11

Grand County: Nothing new to report since 6/8/11

Iron County: Nothing new to report since 6/7/11.

Juab County: Nothing new to report since 6/8/11

Kane County: Nothing new to report since 6/7/11

Millard County: 7/9/11 Still battling flood issues, see the previous report

Morgan County: Nothing new to report since 6/13/11

Piute County: Nothing new to report since 6/21/11

Rich County: Nothing new to report since 6/17/11

Salt Lake County: Nothing new to report since 7/5/11

San Juan County: Nothing new to report since 7/7/11

Sanpete County: Nothing new to report since 7/7/11

Sevier County: Nothing new to report since 6/29/11

Summit County: Nothing new to report since 7/5/11

Tooele County:  Nothing new to report since 6/30/11

Uintah County: Nothing new to report since 7/8/11

Utah County: Nothing new to report since 7/7/11

Washington County: Nothing new to report since 6/13/11.

Wasatch County: Nothing new since 6/29/11

Wayne County: No flooding activity in this county 6/7/11.

Weber County: Nothing new to report since 7/1/11.

Ute Tribe: Nothing new to report since 6/13/11

MEDIA FLOOD COVERAGE WEBSITES:

KSL River Flow Tracker

Salt Lake Tribune Flood stories/info

Fox 13 Floodwatch

Cache Valley Daily

The next situation report: July 10, 2011, a.m. A significant change in the situation will prompt an interim report. Emergency managers should direct questions regarding this report to the State EOC at 1-801-538-3400 or smcurtis@utah.gov. Current situations available on WebEOC. Emergency manageers who need access to WebEOC may click here. Members of the media should contact Joe Dougherty, PIO, at 801-664-1530 or jdougherty@utah.gov.

Powered by the PIER System