Thunderstorms forecast for Draper Thursday and Friday, with flood watches to the south

DRAPER — The National Weather Service office in Salt Lake City reissued its point forecast for an area two miles north of Draper at 12:31 p.m. MDT Thursday, replacing the 11:07 a.m. package 1. The new issuance keeps the wet, windy night the earlier one carried: showers and thunderstorms, then showers and possibly a thunderstorm after 9 p.m., a low around 46, a south southeast wind of 9 to 14 mph increasing to 20 to 25 mph after midnight with gusts to 43 mph, a 100 percent chance of precipitation, and a half to three quarters of an inch of new rain 1.

Friday's entry is unchanged in the reissue. The forecast reads: a chance of showers and thunderstorms before 9 a.m., a chance of rain between 9 a.m. and noon, then a chance of showers and thunderstorms after noon; partly sunny with a high near 56; a south southeast wind of 19 to 24 mph decreasing to 10 to 15 mph in the afternoon with gusts to 43 mph; and a 40 percent chance of precipitation 1. Friday night carries a 40 percent chance of rain, mainly after 3 a.m., with a low around 41 and light and variable wind, and new precipitation of a tenth to a quarter of an inch 1.

The tail of the forecast moved with the reissue. Saturday is partly sunny with a high near 56 and a calm wind turning north northwest at 5 to 8 mph in the afternoon, and Saturday night carries a 20 percent chance of rain after midnight with a low around 41 1.

None of the watches in effect Thursday afternoon covers the Salt Lake Valley 23. The weather service's active alerts for Utah list a flood watch issued at 1:49 p.m. Thursday by its Grand Junction office for the Southeast Utah, Arches/Grand Flat, La Sal and Abajo mountains and Canyonlands zones, running until noon Friday, and a watch issued at 2:45 a.m. Thursday by the Salt Lake City office for the Central Mountains, Castle Country, San Rafael Swell, Zion, Bryce Canyon country, Capitol Reef and Glen Canyon zones, running until midnight 2. Flood warnings remained posted for San Juan County in southeastern Utah and for southwestern Garfield and Kane counties through 12:15 p.m. Friday, issued by the Salt Lake City office at 12:07 p.m. Thursday 3.

The ground those warnings sit on is already wet. Utah's statewide mountain soil moisture reached 64.2 percent in mid-October, 5.1 percentage points above the previous 20-year record for the period, according to KSL, as the Draper Herald reported 4. The Herald, citing ABC4 meteorologist Alana Brophy, described the system as a cut-off low tracking into Utah from the Pacific Northwest through California, separate from Tropical Storm Rachel, which soaked the state earlier in October 4.

Draper's own storm advice predates this system. The city posted its Adopt a Storm Drain notice on Oct. 13, asking residents to take on a drain and keep it clear of debris 5.