Time to Build an Ark

What a deluge.  Impressive totals around northern Utah and it's still raining hard this morning in some areas, including the University of Utah.

Below are estimated rain totals for the 24-hour period ending at 1200 UTC (0600 MDT) this morning from the National Weather Service.  Nearly all of Utah saw measurable precipitation, with a large coverage of > 0.5 inches.  

Source: NWS

That analysis probably has some uncertainty in it due to spatial resolution and the datasets and algorithms used.  Below are some station reports for the 24-hour period ending around 1500 UTC (0900 MDT).  There are a few sites in the Salt Lake Valley with > 2" and in the Uinta Mountains reaching 2.7".  

Source: MesoWest/Synoptic Data

Some of that precipitation in the Uintas certainly fell as snow, although I suspect accumulations are limited due to the mild air and ground temperatures.  The soil temperature measured by the SNOTEL site at Chepeta (12,120 ft) in the eastern Uintas, for example, is still 45˚F this morning.  

Radar at 1518 UTC (0918 MDT) shows heavy precipitation associated with what meteorologists might call a mesoscale circulation center over the Great Salt Lake and Wasatch Front.  Some strong cells extend along the east bench of the Salt Lake Valley, explaining the downpour at the University of Utah. 

Precipitation to the north of Salt Lake City may continue for much of the day if the HRRR model forecast below (valid 2200 UTC/1600 MDT) verifies.

For the Salt Lake Valley, we're likely to see some showers and thunderstorms, but there will be breaks.  Keep an eye to the sky and move indoors if you hear thunder.  

This weather has destroyed my post-vacation mountain bike reconditioning plans.  I suspect that the trails are going to need a couple of days to recover and are likely to be quite muddy in places today and tomorrow.  Hoping to maybe ride on pavement or the Ensign fire road later today, if there's a break.   

If there isn't, I'm going to start building an Ark.