Thunderstorm Wind in Uintah County, Utah

Whenever enough moisture and instability is present, a thunderstorm forms along the Utah Tavaputs near the McCook Ridge RAWS site. On this day, this RAWS site captured a wind gust to 81 mph at 1:27 MDT from the nearby thunderstorm. This storm also likely produced some small hail, although the remoteness of the location makes verification of that exceptionally difficult.

A trough of low pressure tracking east over California nudged the subtropical high eastward into the Southern Plains in the days leading up to this event. This allowed some monsoonal moisture to trickle into the Four Corners region. On the day of the event, the low crossed the Four Corners, adding some extra lift and instability. The most widespread coverage was south of the I-70 corridor, although that didn't stop a few showers and storms from firing off the higher terrain along and north of I-70. Dry surface levels kept the main threats to being gusty winds and maybe some small hail.