Flood — Kane, Utah

2023-03-11 to 2023-03-15 · near Adairville, Kane, Utah

Event narrative

A group of 3 hikers went on a three day trip through Buckskin Gulch, and were set to return Sunday night. Family members reported them missing Monday morning when they did not return as scheduled. A search began shortly thereafter with one of the hikers found alive on Monday, and taken to a hospital via helicopter. The body of a deceased hiker was found late in the day on Monday. A second deceased individual was discovered on Wednesday, 3 miles south of the Utah/Arizona border on a patch of land in the middle of the Paria River. It is presumed this hiker suffered fatal injuries while within Buckskin Gulch in Utah, and was subsequently washed downstream into the Paria River. During the search and rescue operations, two other groups of hikers signaling for help were rescued, bringing the total number of people rescued from Buckskin Gulch to 11.

The conditions were found to be treacherous in the canyon due to high water from rain and snowmelt. Given the narrow nature of the canyon in places, it takes a relatively small amount of water to make the canyon impassable. Additionally, the location of the canyon allows water to flow into it from the south (from Arizona) as well as from the north (with origins in the vicinity of Bryce Canyon).

Wider weather episode

Moving into the middle portion of March, the combination of ongoing snowmelt along with an atmospheric river resulted in flooding through the popular Buckskin Gulch trail. This flood resulted in numerous rescues, as well as fatalities.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (37.0178, -112.0073)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1150480. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.