A flood watch was issued for the Wasatch Plateau Book Cliffs on September 5, according to a statement from NWS Salt Lake City UT. The watch, which was in effect until 12:00 a.m. on September 7, warned that flash flooding caused by excessive rainfall remained possible.
The watch covered several areas, including the Central Mountains, Sanpete Valley, Sevier Valley, Western Uinta Basin, Bryce Canyon Country, South Central Utah, Southern Mountains, Upper Sevier River Valleys, Southwest Utah, and Zion National Park. It also included eastern Juab and Millard counties.
According to the September 5 report, the watch specifically included recent burn scars such as Cottonwood, Widemouth 2, Forsyth, France Canyon, Monroe Canyon, and Black Canyon. Excessive runoff from rainfall could have resulted in flooding of rivers, creeks, streams, dry washes, slot canyons, and other low-lying areas like slickrock and recent burn scars.
The report noted that excessive rainfall was expected on Sunday afternoon due to the arrival of deep tropical moisture across much of central and southern Utah. Rainfall rates were expected to range from 0.4 to 0.6 inches per hour, with isolated rates potentially reaching 0.6 to 1.0 inches per hour.
