Flood — Weber, Utah

2023-05-01 to 2023-05-02 · near Uintah, Weber, Utah

Event narrative

As warmer weather set in during the spring, the prior winter's record setting snowpack began to melt, with runoff leading to cold, elevated, and fast flowing rivers accordingly. For context, the river gage at the outlet of Pineview Reservoir (which has controlled releases that subsequently flow into the Weber River downstream) rose to 7.37 feet by 5:00 pm MST on May 1, just below the historical record peak of 7.38 feet. On Monday May 1 around 4:45 pm MST, the first of many 911 emergency calls were received, stating that a person in distress was seen within the waters of the Weber River, and that they could hear screaming. First responders and emergency personnel began search and rescue operations on the Weber River from approximately Uintah to Marriott-Slaterville soon thereafter. By around 8:00 pm MST, search and rescue crews shifted to a recovery mission. Recovery crews continued for a time in the following days, but ultimately a body was never found and the missing person was presumed to have drowned. The missing person was later identified as an adult woman, age 28, and a family friend had disclosed that the woman had been walking her dogs along the Weber River at her family farm on the afternoon of the incident.

Wider weather episode

Spring runoff from the prior winter's record snowpack resulted in elevated flows through area rivers, and in early May, resulted in a fatality as an adult woman fell into the Weber River.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (41.1375, -111.8994)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1149274. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.