Higher than average temperatures to bring accelerated snowmelt, swelling waterways

This file photo shows accelerated flow at the confluence of the Virgin River and the Santa Clara River, St. George, Utah, Sept. 9, 2014 | Photo by Joyce Kuzmanic, St. George News

ST. GEORGE — The National Weather Service in Salt Lake City has issued a hazardous weather outlook as the cool temperatures and moisture of last week are expected to make way for higher than average May temperatures, leading to an increase in snowmelt and swelling waterways.

The outlook is in effect for the entire week.

Affected area

Tan shading denotes regions subject to the hazardous weather outlook. Map generated May 21, 2017 at 8:58 p.m. MST | Image courtesy of National Weather Service, St. George News

Regionally affected areas include southwest Utah, Utah’s Dixie and Zion National Park, south-central Utah, Glen Canyon Recreation Area-Lake Powell and southern mountains.

Other portions of the state affected include Cache Valley, northern Wasatch Front, Salt Lake and Tooele valleys, southern Wasatch Front, Great Salt Lake Desert and mountains, Wasatch Mountain valleys, Wasatch Mountains near Interstate 80 North, Wasatch Mountains south of I-80, western Uinta Mountains, Wasatch Plateau-Book Cliffs, Western Uinta Basin, Castle Country, San Rafael Swell, Sanpete-Sevier valleys, west-central Utah, central mountains and southwest Wyoming.

Timeline

Scattered showers and isolated thunderstorms will wind down Sunday evening as a storm system moves southeast through Utah, with remaining precipitation ending by midnight.

High air pressure during the first half of the week will drive temperatures above late-May norms and bring dry conditions to the area. A number of waterways will see increasing flows as the snowmelt runoff accelerates.

A Pacific storm system will pass through the area late Wednesday through the end of the week; however, most of the resulting cooler and wet weather will be in northern portions of the state.

Precautions

As snowmelt runoff increases, waterways will see increasing flows. Children and pets should be kept away from these fast flowing waterways.

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Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2017, all rights reserved.

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