Flood Watches and Brush Fires: Southeast and Central Utah’s Unexpected Weekend

In southeast and central Utah, flood watches were issued on Friday, June 21. The areas included Blanding, Escalante, Green River, Kanab, Moab, and Torrey. The National Weather Service warned that heavy rainfall could cause flooding in slot canyons, recent burn scars, dry washes and other flood-prone locations. This put national parks such as Arches, Canyonlands and Capitol Reef at risk of slot canyon flooding. Flooding was also possible in Zion National Park.

Meanwhile in other news, Utah received $20 million in federal funding from the Federal Highway Administration to purchase new road safety technology. The funds will be used to install vehicle-to-everything technology known as V2X. This technology aims to improve route efficiency and increase safety on the roads. The grant will also help create a more seamless and reliable network between Utah, Colorado and Wyoming. The expansion of V2X technology could lead to improved transit and snowplow efficiency with a future vision of enhancing roadway safety by warning drivers of potential dangers.

In addition to these events, a brush fire in Eagle Mountain led residents in the area to be evacuated. Homeowners were seen trying to battle the blaze before firefighters arrived. Images from the scene showed a line of fire burning through scrub brush on a small hill behind homes quickly growing to around 10 acres in size.