The outlook for this summer’s monsoon season shows Utah’s recent stretch of wetter-than-normal years may soon come to an end.
Below-average rainfall and above-average heat is in store between July and September, according to forecasts from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
That’s bad news for water supplies, drought conditions and wildfire risk in an already dry state. But exactly where the worst localized impacts will be won’t be known until later in the summer, said Jon Meyer, assistant state climatologist with the Utah Climate Center.
“That will be a little bit touch-and-go as the season evolves into July and August. But at this point, overall, the region is expected to have an underperforming monsoon.”
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Utah’s summer rainy season is also expected to show up late — likely two or three weeks behind its usual July onset. Early signs of monsoonal activity, he said, should already be forming in Mexico.
“They should be seeing afternoon thunderstorms across the mountains right now, and that really hasn’t materialized. So it’s behind getting out of the gate. … I think that is confirming our fears.”
The delay is largely due to lingering soil moisture from the past two wet years, which keeps the monsoon weather pattern from starting. The above-average heat Utah experienced this June may dry out the dirt a bit, he said, but likely not enough — or not quickly enough — to negate the effects of that moisture.
Last year’s summer rains were also delayed. But when they finally arrived, they brought enough moisture to turn things around in a hurry.
“I’m remaining optimistic that that might save our bacon this year with the delayed start expected again,” Meyer said. “But we have quite a few indicators right now suggesting that won’t happen.”
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One of those indicators is the cycle of water temperatures in the Pacific Ocean, the phenomenon that creates El Niño and La Niña weather patterns.
Forecasts still expect that cycle to shift to La Niña in the months ahead — which could theoretically boost monsoon rains — but Meyer said that transition has been delayed, too. So La Niña will arrive too late to have much impact.
“It dragged its feet just enough. … So we’re missing out on that ingredient as well.”
With the outlook for La Niña and other global atmospheric patterns not as favorable as they were last year, he said it’s likely Utah will only see sporadic rainfall — rather than the steady storms of summer 2023.
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National Oceanic And Atmospheric Administration
This map shows the summer precipitation forecast from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Utah is expected to see drier-then-normal conditions, paired with above-average heat.
For Utah communities, this return to a drier cycle could have big impacts. For one, Meyer said it’ll likely allow drought to creep back in.
“We’ve seen some whispers of drought expansion in southern and eastern Utah thanks to their dry and warmer spring. So what we’re very much focused on right now is how our summer pattern will evolve and affect drought conditions.”
That’s a particularly worrying thought for the desert region around St. George, where water is already hard to come by.
“Monsoon rain for southwest Utah is actually very profound and has a huge effect upon our water supply,” said Washington County Water Conservancy District General Manager Zach Renstrom. “It’s something very critical that we count on.”
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It’s vital, partly, because of its timing.
Monsoons typically hit southern Utah in July and August. Those months often have some of the hottest days of the year and ramped up demand for local water supplies — often for outdoor irrigation to keep grass and crops alive.
When it rains, people tend to turn off their sprinklers. To promote that mindset, he said the district offers a rebate on smart irrigation controllers, which use local weather data to help residents adjust their watering schedule.
“If we can save a gallon of water, we have the ability to save that water for multiple years. … So we always preach, ‘Hey, turn off your sprinklers.’”
Without the rain, however, pressure on local water supplies will inevitably rise. The area’s reservoirs are filled and ready to handle that demand this year, Renstrom said. That doesn’t mean there wouldn’t be lasting impacts.
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As water storage gets drawn down from increased use, his thoughts turn to refilling it with future runoff from snowpack. But a poor monsoon season could hurt those chances, too.
That’s because soil that gets parched this year might soak up next year’s runoff before the water flows down to replenish reservoirs.
“It makes me actually very nervous about the following year,” Renstrom said.
“If we don’t get a good monsoon rain this year, not only does it affect this year, but it’ll actually affect the next summer. So it almost has a year-long effect.”
SALT LAKE CITY (KUTV) — A wrongful death lawsuit filed in Utah alleges a counterfeit airbag turned a routine crash into a fatal explosion that killed a teenage driver within minutes.
Alexia De La Rosa graduated from Hunter High School in May of 2025. On July 30, 2025, she was involved in a crash.
The lawsuit alleges that when the vehicle’s driver-side airbag deployed, it detonated and sent metal and plastic shrapnel into the cabin.
MORE | Crashes
A large, jagged piece of metal struck Alexia in the chest, and she died minutes later, according to the complaint.
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The lawsuit, filed by Morgan & Morgan in Utah’s Third Judicial District Court, was brought on behalf of Tessie De La Rosa, as personal representative of the estate of her 17-year-old daughter.
The defendants are AutoSavvy Holdings Inc., AutoSavvy Dealerships LLC, and AutoSavvy Management Company LLC.
Morgan & Morgan alleges that the Hyundai Sonata had previously been declared a total loss after a 2023 crash and issued a salvage title. The suit claims AutoSavvy later purchased the vehicle and had it repaired — during which counterfeit, non-compliant, and defective airbag components were allegedly installed — before reselling it to the De La Rosa family.
The complaint further alleges that AutoSavvy knew or should have known the vehicle contained counterfeit and nonfunctional airbag components when it was sold.
“This is the third wrongful death lawsuit we have filed involving alleged counterfeit airbags that we believe turned survivable crashes into fatal incidents,” Morgan & Morgan founder John Morgan said in a statement. “No life should be cut short because a corporation puts profits above safety.”
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Attorney Andrew Parker Felix, who is leading the case, said the firm is committed to uncovering how allegedly illegal airbag inflators enter the stream of commerce and are installed in vehicles sold to consumers.
“To make this perfectly clear, these are not supposed to be in the United States at all,” Felix said. “They are not approved for use in any vehicle that’s being driven in the United States.”
“They don’t have approval from any governmental agency to be installed in vehicles that are driven within the United States and regulated here,” he added.
Morgan & Morgan says it is investigating at least three additional deaths involving other defendants and alleged counterfeit airbags.
KUTV 2News reached out to AutoSavvy multiple times by email and phone. We were told a member of the company’s legal team would be in touch, but as of publication we have not received a response.
Randall will be among several key visitors in attendance for a meeting on March 6
(Trent Nelson | The Salt Lake Tribune) University of Utah President Taylor Randall speaks on campus during an event on Feb. 7.
University of Utah President Taylor Randall is scheduled to meet with President Donald Trump this week.
Randall is expected to be among several attendees at a White House roundtable meeting on Friday to discuss solutions for the rapidly evolving landscape of college athletics with the president, a U. spokesperson said.
The meeting could be postponed, however, due to the war in Iran. As of Monday, “the odds of it happening this week are 50-50 at best,” according to Yahoo Sports.
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If the roundtable happens as scheduled, the guest list includes several current and former notable figures in sports, including NBA Commissioner Adam Silver, golf legend Tiger Woods and former Alabama head coach Nick Saban.
Utah Gov. Spencer Cox confirmed in a social media post on X that he would be in attendance as well.
“Thank you [President Donald Trump] for inviting me to participate, and for your commitment to addressing challenges in college sports,” Cox said on X. “[Taylor Randall] is a great university leader who will work with us on solutions for this critical issue.”
(Trent Nelson | The Salt Lake Tribune) University of Utah President Taylor Randall speaks on campus on Feb. 7.
Earlier this year, Randall was called on by the federal House Committee on Education and Workforce to schedule a briefing to discuss the school’s planned private-equity partnership with Otro Capital, according to a report from Sportico.
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The Utes announced their proposal in December of last year, which is a first-of-its-kind agreement between a university’s athletic department and a private equity company.
Utah’s deal with Otro has yet to be finalized. In a Feb. 10 interview with The Salt Lake Tribune, Randall said the university is “still just working through all of the issues systematically.”
“We want to do this in the right way to set both of us up for future success,” he added.
The move is expected to infuse hundreds of millions of dollars into the U.’s athletic department to help sustain the financial future of the program with rising deficits across the industry.
“I don’t think any of us would prefer to be in this situation right now,” Randall said in a faculty senate meeting in January. “But it just is what we’re facing.”
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SALT LAKE CITY (KUTV) — The 2025-2026 winter season isn’t quite over, but it’s no secret that it’s been a rough one when it comes to snow. Right now, statewide snowpack numbers are hovering around 60% of the median.
But you don’t have to know those numbers to understand what a strange winter it’s been.
“It’s kind of good,” said Carrie Stewart, who lives in Salt Lake City. “I mean, I like it because I like a milder climate. But I realize this summer is going to be hard.”
MORE | Snowpack
“I’m not sad I’m not shoveling,” said Sally Humphreys of Salt Lake City. “But it’s definitely worrying.”
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State water officials are also worried. The clock is ticking to bulk up those snowpack numbers.
“We’re running out of time to get the snowpack that we need,” said Jordan Clayton, supervisor of the Utah Snow Survey. “We have about 40 or so days until our typical snowpack peak.”
There is still some time to make up lost ground, but the odds aren’t great. Clayton estimates a 10% chance of reaching normal by the end of the season.
“Those are terrible odds,” he said.
In fact, the odds of having a record low snowpack are greater, sitting at 20%. It’s a grim reality that has officials looking toward the summer anxiously.
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“I would expect to see watering restrictions outdoors for a lot of places,” said Laura Haskell, Utah’s drought coordinator.
It’s unknown what the next few weeks will bring, but if Haskell had to guess, she doesn’t see state reservoirs filling up much from where they are now.
“In the spring when that runoff hits, we do get a noticeable peak in our reservoir storage,” Haskell said. “The water just starts coming in. But this year, we don’t anticipate getting that.”
Haskell says we have enough reservoir storage to likely make it through the summer, but there are other implications to worry about.
Our autumn season was pretty wet. That led to decent soil moisture levels, which can then lead to higher vegetation growth.
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“If we then have a snowpack that melts out really early, we’ll have a longer than normal summer, if you will, with forage growth that might dry out, and so that’s kind of a bad recipe for promoting fire hazard,” Clayton said.
Utahns have dealt with low snowpack levels in the past. Many Utahns are familiar with their lawn turning brown because of water restrictions.
“We’ll probably just let it go that nice, sandy, golden color that it gets in the summer in a dry climate,” said Dea Ann Kate, who lives in Cottonwood Heights.
As we wait to see what the next few weeks bring, people like Carrie Stewart are just reflecting on an unusual winter.
“It is worrying,” she said. “We need snow. We’ve only shoveled once this season, and that’s very unusual.”
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Water officials are now hoping for something else unusual: climbing out of the snowpack hole that’s been created.
“But there are no times going back where the snowpack totals for the state were close to where they are right now, and we ended up actually at a normal peak,” Clayton said. “So while it’s possible, it’s very unlikely.”
