Two days of steady rain have swollen creeks and caused some minor street flooding in Davis County, which has flood control officials casting a weather eye on the snowpack.
The heavy rain in the valley - some Bountiful areas recorded more than 2 inches on Thursday - has fallen as snow in the upper elevations and memories of the flooding of 1983 are flooding back."Our crews have been very busy, keeping the water flowing," said county Public Works Director Sid Smith. "We've been out until the wee hours of the morning, cleaning out grates and keeping the channels clear."
Smith said a decade of flood control work since the 1983 disaster is paying off, so far.
"We're handling what we're getting now. But the snowpack is getting a little worrisome," he said. "It's some different than in '83 in that we don't have the midlevel and lower elevation snowpack. But it's getting a little heavy up at the top.
"It's a nervous year," said Smith, who added that the county has a hefty supply of sandbags on hand.
Farmington City Public Works Director Wally Hokanson said a clogged storm drain brought some flooded basements in homes on west State Street. His crews, too, have been out trying to keep the water flowing, Hokanson said.
"We're watching it pretty close. We haven't had any hillside slippage and we don't see any signs of it, but we're monitoring it," he said.
Some minor street flooding was also reported in Bountiful Thursday afternoon as storm water poured down off the east bench subdivision roads. One monitoring station on the city's east side reported receiving 2.5 inches of rain in a 24-hour period.
Police agencies in the county reported several accidents Thursday, including a rollover in the southbound lanes of I-15 in Farmington, that are considered weather-related because of slick roads and reduced visibility. No serious injuries were reported in any of the incidents.A snow advisory has been issued through Friday night for the northern mountains. Snow might be heavy in thundershower areas, and areas of blowing or drifting snow are possible, said meteorologist Ed Carle of the Salt Lake forecast office of the National Weather Service.
The storm system will generally move east of the state Friday night, but the air will remain quite moist and temperatures cold, Carle said.
Three to 6 inches of snow were forecast during the day Friday and an additional 2 to 4 inches is forecast for Friday night in the northern mountains. Eight to 10 inches of snow fell between Thursday and early Friday at Alta and Snowbird.
The snow level is expected to drop to between the 6,500- and 6,000-foot level by Friday evening. Some showers but warmer weather - near 60 degrees - are forecast Saturday, and temperatures should range from the mid- to upper 60s Sunday. Some showers could fall, but the weather doesn't look too bad on Mother's Day, said meteorologist William J. Alder.
Dry and warmer weather is forecast for the first part of the week, and showers are possible mid-week.
Some precipitation amounts reported for the 24-hour period ending at 8 a.m. Friday: Centerville and Deweyville, Box Elder County, 1.10 inches; Sandy, 1.06; Ogden, 1.16; Holladay, 1.10; Pleasant View, Weber County, 1.00; Nordic Valley, Weber County, 1.61; Manti, 1.09; the Salt Lake Airport, 0.77; and Woodland Hills, Utah County, 1.05 inches.
A lot of weather stations along the Wasatch Front have reported normal or above normal amounts of precipitation during the first 12 days of May, Alder said.