Think disastrous weather is something as remote as Noah's Flood? Think again. A high school student would have lived through four of Utah's top 10 weather events of this century.
Floods are more likely than any other type of weather disaster to kill Utahns, according to a compilation of the most striking weather events of the century.William J. Alder of the National Weather Service ranks these incidents as the 10 most dramatic in Utah's 20th century weather. They are ranked in order with the severest listed first:
1. The 1983 flooding that allowed residents to fish on State Street and inundated two towns. At least seven people drowned.
2. The tornado of Aug. 11, 1999, which tore through Salt Lake City, killing one man and injuring more than 80 people.
3. An avalanche on Feb. 17, 1926, that demolished 14 miners' cottages and a three-story boarding house in Bingham Canyon, killing 26 and injuring 13.
4. The winter of 1948-49, coldest on record. Ten people died of exposure, wildlife and herds struggled to survive and many fruit trees were killed.
5. The flash flood of June 10, 1965, when seven people were killed in Sheep Creek Canyon, Uinta Mountains.
6. A flood on Aug. 13, 1923, which killed a family of six that camped in Farmington Canyon, plus two others in Willard, Box Elder County.
7. The blizzard of Jan. 6-11, 1993, that slammed the Wasatch Front with more than 3 feet of snow.
8. The wild canyon winds of April 4-5, 1983, that blew through the Wasatch Front from Utah County northward.
9. Thunderstorms in the summer of 1943, which brought large hail, heavy rains and flooding, killing 23,300 turkeys in central and northern Utah.
10. A Sept. 1, 1939, lightning strike that killed 835 sheep in the Raft River Mountains of Box Elder County and knocked the sheepherder unconscious.
Other big weather stories, listed by Alder by decade, include:
1900s:
May 12, 1902, a hailstorm pounded Grover, Wayne County, stripping leaves from trees and cutting down alfalfa. Most of the hailstones were 7/8-inch in diameter.
July 27, 1904, a heavy cloudburst hit New Harmony, Washington County, driving residents from their homes, and washing away foundations and roads. The mud path was several miles long and half a mile wide.
Aug. 13, 1906, 2 inches of rain fell in two hours at Tropic, Garfield County. Torrents of water rushed through the streets and walnut-size hailstones stripped leaves from corn. Four miles downstream, a five-foot crest of water carried rocks and timber through Cannonville, Garfield County.
1910s:
Jan. 1, 1910, a combination of heavy rain, warm temperatures, southwestern winds and snow cover triggered serious flooding in southern Utah. At Milford the Beaver River was about 11/4 mile wide. Water systems around St. George were damaged.
June 19, 1918, a heavy cloudburst at Mt. Pleasant, Sanpete County, sent a river of mud and water several feet deep through streets, lawns and farms. Some homes filled to the windowsills with mud. One man was killed trying to cross the flood. Total loss in damage to crops, buildings, waterworks and an electricity plant approached $100,000.
July 18, 1918, in the evening, two large bolts of lightning struck and killed 654 sheep on Mill Canyon Peak, American Fork Canyon.
1920s:
Aug. 13, 1923, one of Utah's most deadly floods caused hundreds of thousands of dollars in damage to Farmington, Centerville and Willard, Box Elder County. A family of six camping in Farmington Canyon died. Crests of water in Farmington Canyon were 75 to 100 feet high and 200 feet wide. Patrons of nearby Lagoon were rescued from trees and roofs. Two women died in Willard when the flood demolished their house.
Aug. 27, 1925, a flood struck Woodside, Emery County, washing out nine bridges.
Feb. 17, 1926, Utah's most deadly avalanche struck Bingham Canyon, Salt Lake County. It demolished 14 miners' cottages and a three-story boarding house, killing 36 people and injuring 13, among the 65 in its path.
1930s:
January 1931, Salt Lake City logged a record one-month total of 21 days of dense fog. From November 1930 through February 1931, 42 days of heavy fog blanketed the airport.
July 12, 1932, hail 5 inches deep fell in Escalante, Garfield County. It killed chickens and wild birds, broke windows and destroyed crops.
Sept. 1, 1939, lightning hit and killed 835 sheep that had bedded down for the night on the top of Pine Canyon in the raft River Mountains of Box Elder County. Out of 850 sheep, only 15 survived. A sheepherder was knocked unconscious but escaped death because he was in a tent.
1940s:
The summer of 1943, thunderstorms produced large hail, heavy rain and extensive flooding that killed 23,300 turkeys in Box Elder, Davis, Weber and Utah counties.
Aug. 19, 1945, in the aftermath of a furious storm of wind, rain and hail, an eyewitness said, "The Salt Lake (municipal) airport was literally destroyed by the storm. Planes stood on the runways with wings broken off and their fuselages dotted with holes from the hail." City Creek flooded. At Salt Lake City Cemetery in the Avenues, headstones were overturned and cracked and flood waters opened some graves, exposing bodies and washing away caskets. City Creek flooded down State Street.
The winter of 1948-49 was the coldest and snowiest on record, killing nearly 25 percent of some livestock herds. Ten people died from exposure. The average temperature at the Salt Lake airport in January was 11.6 degrees compared with the usual of 27.9; and 88.2 inches of snow fell compared with the average of 64.5. Heavy winds also created a lot of snowdrifts.
1950s:
April 25-29, 1952, a record snowpack followed by five days of abnormally warm weather sent floodwater cascading down streams along the Wasatch Front. The Jordan River covered 50 blocks of Salt Lake City's west side 6 feet deep, forcing nearly 400 families to evacuate. The Liberty Park area also flooded, with water channeled down 1300 East to the Jordan River. Two people were killed in Ogden. Damage reached $10 million.
Feb. 5, 1953, the state's greatest 24-hour snowfall buried Kanosh, Millard County, under 35 inches.
1960s:
On Sept. 17, 1961, 26 hikers were caught in a flash flood in the Virgin River Narrows, Zion National Park. Five members of the group drowned. The flood crest reached 14 feet in some sections of the gorge. On the same day, on Wahweap Creek near Glen Canyon City (now Big Water, Kane County), a 9-year-old girl drowned in a flash flood.
June 10, 1965, a husband, wife, their three children and two nephews drowned in a flash flood in Sheep Creek Canyon, Uinta Mountains. They were in a campground when snowmelt and rain swelled the stream, turning the creek into a raging torrent.
July 26, 1966, Salt Lake City recorded its hottest day: 106.6 degrees.
1970s:
Dec. 28-29, 1972, a heavy snowstorm accompanied by strong winds deposited a record 18.1 inches of snow in 24 hours at Salt Lake City International Airport.
Jan. 5, 1974, a major winter storm moved across southern Utah, dropping more than a foot of snow on Kanab and St. George and causing numerous traffic accidents.
March 3, 1978, an avalanche near Bridal Veil Falls in Provo Canyon deposited snow up to 75 feet deep. It covered 2,000 feet of the main road, requiring three days to clear. I-80 on the east side of Salt Lake Valley was closed as winds gusted over 70 mph, reducing visibility to zero. At least 50 cars were abandoned on the highway.
1980s:
April through June 1983, the most severe and extensive snowmelt in the state's history caused widespread flood and mud damage along the Wasatch Front. In April a massive mudslide blocked the Spanish Fork River just below Thistle, Utah County, causing the river to inundate the town. The slide blocked U.S. 6, the main access to Price and eastern Utah, as well as the Denver & Rio Grande Western Railroad. In May and June, record flows of Salt Lake creeks turned State Street, Salt Lake City, into a river. In June the DMAD Dam near Delta failed, flooding Deseret, Millard County. At least seven people drowned and damage was around $300 million.
April 4-5, 1983, canyon winds of 60-80 mph, with gusts up to 104, were measured from Utah County northward. Utah Power reported 54 transmission towers were damaged and destroyed. A dozen flatbed railroad cars were overturned near Farmington. In downtown Ogden, the director of Weber County's emergency services declared, "Almost every glass window in the area was destroyed."
September 1983-June 1984 was the greatest seasonal snowfall, 808.5 inches at Alta.
Oct. 17-18, 1984, a "Dreaded Lake Effect" snowstorm dumped 18.4 inches on Salt Lake Airport, 27 inches on Holladay, 24 inches on the University of Utah, 20 inches on Cottonwood Heights, 17 inches on South Salt Lake, 16 inches on Murray and 15 inches on Sandy. Half a million trees were damaged, causing widespread, lengthy power outages. Many schools and businesses had to close. Total damage was more than $1 million.
1990s:
Jan. 6-11, 1993, a "once in 100-year" snowstorm hit the Wasatch Front with heavy snow falling nearly continuously for six days. "Upwards of 3 feet of snow was measured on the east side of the (Salt Lake) Valley," Alder said. Gov. Mike Leavitt declared a state of emergency in Salt Lake County and activated the Utah National Guard to assist in snow removal.
Aug. 11, 1993, the strongest tornado documented in Utah struck the Uinta Mountains around Chepeta Lake and White Rock Canyon, 25-30 miles north of Roosevelt. It destroyed or damaged about 1,000 acres of trees. Four vehicles were damaged and one truck destroyed at Chepeta Lake.
April 22-23, 1999, a major windstorm whipped the northern part of the Wasatch Front. Brigham City Airport shook in a gust of 113 mph, and gusts of 110 mph were measured at Weber State University. The wind toppled 20 semitrailer trucks, a large construction crane at Ogden's Municipal Building and power lines. Siding and shingles were blown from houses. Schools were closed in Ogden.
Aug. 11, 1999, a strong tornado ripped through Salt Lake City, with winds in the category of 113-157 mph. The twister, with an average width of 100 to 200 yards, carved a path 41/4 miles long, from west of the Delta Center to north of Temple Square, through Memory Grove and into the northwest section of the Avenues. It killed one man, injured more than 80 other people and destroyed or damaged 500 trees. Costs were estimated at about $170 million.