High Wind in Grand Flat and Arches, Utah

The KCNY ASOS located at Canyonlands Airport, about 10 miles north of Moab, UT, recorded a wind gust to 69 mph at approximately 5:30 PM local time on the 17th. Wind gusts across the zone ranged from 45 mph to the peak gust of 69 mph. These winds lasted through the afternoon and into the early evening before beginning to diminish as the cold front moved through. No reports of injuries, damages, or fatalities were received in association with this event.

As is often the case with high wind events across eastern Utah and western Colorado, this event was driven by an approaching low pressure system that was tightening the pressure gradient aloft ahead of it. A potent jet streak was moving through the southwesterly flow ahead of this system as well, and with a dry streak moving into the region, deep mixing during the day on the 17th was anticipated to tap into the stronger winds of this jet and mix them down. A third contributing factor to the strong winds on the 17h was the approaching cold front, which had stalled out over northeast Utah and northwest Colorado, driving strong southwesterly surface winds out ahead of it. All together, this event led to widespread gusts of 45-55 mph across eastern Utah and the lower elevations of western Colorado, with several gusts of 60 mph or better.