Thunderstorms that shut down Brighton Resort's lifts Saturday, Aug. 29, and triggered a mudslide on Highway 65 are expected to keep hitting the Wasatch Front through Monday evening, with the National Weather Service (NWS) flagging a 15% risk of excessive rainfall for areas along and east of Interstate 15.

The risk covers most of the Wasatch Front, including Cottonwood Heights and Holladay, where mostly cloudy skies and thunderstorms are forecast through the afternoon and evening hours, ABC4 meteorologist Noah Price reported. Daytime highs are staying in the 70s for northern Utah.

A flood watch covering central and southern Utah runs through Monday evening. The NWS named several burn scars as the highest-concern areas, including the 97,000-acre Cottonwood Fire scar in Beaver and Piute counties, where wildfire earlier this summer stripped vegetation that normally slows runoff.

Those burn scars sit roughly 200 miles south of Cottonwood Heights.

The Wasatch Front still faces real risk from the same storm pattern. The mudslide that closed Highway 65 between Morgan and East Canyon on Saturday also forced road closures in Orangeville in Emery County due to flash flooding, according to ABC4. Brighton Resort closed all lifts that day because of severe weather.

By Monday, ABC4 reported two-thirds of Utah was under the flood watch, with flash flooding already occurring in parts of the state. A life-threatening flash flood warning was in effect for central Garfield County, southwestern Emery County and northern and central Wayne County.

Hayden Mahan, a meteorologist with the NWS in Salt Lake City, explained in a July 14 interview with Fox 13 how burn scars increase flood risk. Burned soil repels water instead of absorbing it, the weather service said, and even distant storms can send dangerous runoff downstream. "… Even a little bit of rain can really cause some problems for some of these burn scar areas," Mahan said.

Forecasters expect conditions to dry out slightly on Tuesday, with only slight rain chances at higher elevations. The flood threat will drop but won't hit zero, particularly over flood-prone areas. Long-range models point to another surge of moisture arriving by the end of next week and into the following weekend, along with gusty southwesterly winds across the Wasatch Front.

The NWS advises residents not to drive through flooded roads. Most flood deaths occur in vehicles, the agency said.