Gusts up to 78 mph recorded at Sundance

Janice Peterson

Some strong winds around Utah Valley on Tuesday night brought some nasty dust into the area and even caused some damage at a local construction site.

David James, overseer for the Brigham Young University weather station, said winds from 20 to 40 miles per hour came through the county Tuesday evening, and several cities saw gusts near 50 mph. The highest wind speed in the state was recorded in Sundance, at 78 miles per hour.

"Everything started going crazy with the wind [Tuesday night]," James said.

James said the gusting winds were likely caused by clouds that tried to rain, but the air near the ground was too dry. When the area around the cloud is more moist than the air beneath it, James said the rain often evaporates before it hits the ground and cools the air. The air becomes more dense and accelerates, creating high winds similar to summertime microbursts.

"When they come in gushes like that, 50 mph winds can cause some damage when they come so sudden," James said.

An Orem construction site also sustained a bit of damage late Tuesday night when the gusting wind pushed over about 30 columns of structural steel. A FedEx Ground distribution center is under construction on Geneva Road in Orem, and project superintendant Mike Tenney said the structure was not yet strong enough to withstand high winds.

"We just got high winds at the worst time," he said.

Approximately $100,000 worth of damage was caused by the falling steel, which landed on a scissor lift, a boom lift and other equipment. Tenney said crews prepared for the forecasted 30 mph winds, but nearby Vineyard Elementary School reported 50 mph gusts.

"We had bracing up, we had all types of stuff up," he said. "It's hard to plan for the worst-case scenario."

The high winds also brought some dust and ash to the valley, which meteorologist Randy Graham said is due to a prolonged dry stretch and last year's Milford Flats wildfires. The wildfire left a large burnt scar across the Milford area, and Graham said the cloud of dust and ash rising from the ground with southern winds is so large it can be seen from a satellite. Winds will continue to bring the bad air from the south until new crops grow in the area to hold the soil down.

"This will probably be the worst of it, the first fall and spring after the fire," he said.

Although the skies had a lot of dust flying around, Bryce Bird with the Utah Division of Air Quality said tangible dust is not as worrisome as the small particulate matter that often builds up in an inversion.

"The gritty dust, pretty much, your body can handle," he said.

Despite the ugly skies, Bird said the 24-hour measurement of particulate matter did not exceed any air quality standards, and the air quality is expected to be good for the remainder of the week.