Desert City Receives Nearly Month’s Worth of Rain in 20 Minutes

A desert city in Utah was flooded after excessive rain fell in a very short period on Tuesday.

Orem, Utah, a city of nearly 100,000 in the high desert, saw .75 inches of rain on Tuesday, near its monthly average of .95 inches, in only 20 minutes. In addition to the rain, which caused severe flooding along interstates, roads and in basements, golf- ball-sized hail pounded the area.

Pictures and videos of the severe weather were shared on social media following the storm.

“Orem, UT – you saw up to 1.75″ hail on Tuesday (golf ball size), and a lot of it! Streets turned into rivers as the monsoonal storms roared into the greater Salt Lake City metro,” WeatherNation posted on X (formerly Twitter) with a video of floodwater pouring down a roadway.

“I-15 in Orem looking like a river today! My goodness, torrential rain and hail combine this afternoon! #utwx” KSL-TV meteorologist Matthew Johnson in Salt Lake City posted on X, sharing a video of cars navigating the interstate floodwaters.

“Look at that FLOODING! Crazy water levels in Orem earlier this evening during rain and hail,” Salt Lake City station KUTV posted with another video of cars driving through floods.

“WILD WEATHER: Utah experienced a few days of flooding rains,” Fox Weather posted on X. “Interstate 15 near Orem, Utah, was flooded, then covered in hailstones requiring snowplows to come out in August.”

Rain was so severe that it turned a local skate park into a temporary pool. National Weather Service (NWS) meteorologist Alex DeSmet told Newsweek that by itself, .75 inches of rain isn’t considered noteworthy, but that amount of precipitation in only 20 minutes was flood-inducing for Orem.

“It was close to the monthly average in only 20 minutes’ time,” DeSmet said. “It was a situation where [nearby areas] didn’t get any rain. It was definitely feast or famine in terms of rainfall yesterday.”

DeSmet reminded motorists that they should never drive through flooded roadways. “Turn around, don’t drown,” he said.

Most NWS flood warnings advise motorists that flood deaths usually occur in vehicles. DeSmet said that as of Wednesday it appears most of the flooding has dried up along Orem roadways. Being a desert climate, Orem receives only around 13 inches of rain a year.

Orem residents can expect dry conditions through the end of the week, DeSmet said, although another “push of moisture” could occur this weekend as more showers and thunderstorms move through the area.