SALT LAKE CITY — Five years ago today, northern Utah dealt with chaos as powerful easterly winds ripped through the region, uprooting thousands of trees, overturning semi-trucks, and leaving more than 170,000 homes and businesses without power. The storm, which struck on Sept. 8, 2020, is remembered as one of the most destructive wind events in state history.
The trouble began when an unseasonably strong low-pressure system swept across the state, eventually parking over the Four Corners. The setup generated widespread easterly winds, some topping hurricane force. In Farmington, gusts reached 99 miles per hour. At the University of Utah, winds hit 89. Along I-15 and I-80, 45 semi-trucks were flipped onto their sides.
Salt Lake City’s parks and neighborhoods were devastated. Liberty Park lost several of its towering trees, and more than 1,500 public trees were blown down citywide. On the Capitol grounds, massive branches littered the lawn, creating what longtime FOX 13 News anchor Bob Evans described as “a hurricane kind of setting.”
PHOTO GALLERY: Winds cause heavy damage in Northern Utah
The storm didn’t arrive quietly — it came on the heels of extreme heat. Just days earlier, Salt Lake City had tied a record at 100 degrees. By Sept. 8, the high struggled to reach 55 — one of the sharpest temperature drops ever recorded so early in the season.
Meteorologists still point to the event as extraordinary.
“At one time, we had red flag warnings, excessive heat warnings, high wind warnings, and then hard freeze warnings all at once," said Monica Traphagan, a senior meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Salt Lake City. "That system brought not just strong easterly downslope winds, but a wide-scale high wind event across much of Utah.”
Residents vividly remember the sound of cracking trees and the anxiety of long power outages. In Millcreek, Ben Howells recalled watching television when a massive spruce tree suddenly toppled outside his home.
“We heard this huge boom,” he said. “I stepped outside, and the tree had tipped over. We’re done with blue spruce — we’ve taken them all out.”
WATCH: Trees toppled in windstorm
For Traphagan, the event was also personal.
“My home in Rose Park lost power for three days,” she said. “Some of my neighbors were without for a week. It’s certainly one of the most memorable ones of my career.”
The storm may have long since passed, but its memory hasn’t. For many Utahns, the image of overturned trucks, darkened neighborhoods, and toppled trees still serves as a reminder of nature’s power — and how quickly life can shift when the winds decide to roar.
