Utah’s monsoon is bringing some much-needed moisture to the state, but more moisture does not necessarily mean Utah’s wildfire danger is over.
As monsoonal moisture trickles in, thunderstorms are developing across the state. Early in the process, some storms can form high over the mountains while the lower atmosphere remains relatively dry. That can produce a dangerous combination: lightning and strong, erratic outflow winds with little rainfall reaching the ground. Those winds can quickly change fire behavior and, in some cases, help existing wildfires spread.
“It’s not like we’re getting those big winter storms that put down a lot of precipitation over a broad area,” said Glen Merrill, a hydrologist with the National Weather Service in Salt Lake City. “These are hit and miss. Five miles away from a thunderstorm gets nothing.”
That hit-or-miss nature of monsoon rainfall is especially important when it comes to wildfire suppression. One area may receive enough rain to temporarily slow a fire while nearby locations remain hot and dry. Even increased cloud cover and humidity can provide some short-term relief by reducing evaporation and helping moderate fire behavior.
But Merrill says the current push of monsoonal moisture is not as significant as what Utah experienced in July. “It’s obviously better to have monsoonal moisture to tamp things down just from the increase in humidity, the increase in cloud cover, things like that,” Merrill said. “But it certainly doesn’t provide a savior in the big picture of things.”
More thunderstorms are expected across Utah this week, bringing the potential for periods of heavier rain, increased humidity and additional cloud cover.
For firefighters, however, the biggest benefit would come from a more sustained pattern change — more widespread rainfall combined with cooler temperatures. Until then, Utah’s wildfire danger remains highly dependent on exactly where thunderstorms develop, and how much rain actually reaches the ground.
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