Detonations are planned at the Utah Test and Training Range, west of the Great Salt Lake.
(Al Hartmann | Tribune file photo) A warning sign upon entering the Utah Test and Training Range, west of the Great Salt Lake. Detonations are scheduled starting in late June 2025, running through the summer.
Northern Utahns may hear loud explosions coming from the area west of the Great Salt Lake next week and through the summer.
The U.S. Air Force is planning several large detonations at the Utah Test and Training Range starting next week, according to a news release from Hill Air Force Base. The test range is about 80 miles west of Salt Lake City, in Utah’s west desert.
The detonations, involving more than 10,000 pounds of net explosive weight, are meant to destroy old or obsolete rocket motors from the Department of Defense, the release said.
The Air Force maintains that these detonations are the best way environmentally to dispose of large rocket motors. More than 300 motors have been destroyed at the test range since 2012. It’s the only place in the United States where such denotations are permitted, the release said.
One or two detonations are planned each week through September, the release said. The exact timing of the detonations depends on weather conditions, workload and other factors.
Before each detonation, the release said, the Air Force checks wind speed, wind direction and other weather factors. Those measurements are entered into a sound prediction model to determine if conditions are acceptable for a detonation.
A detonation may be delayed if the model predicts the sound will be louder than what’s permitted at locations along the Wasatch Front.
The prediction model isn’t perfect, though, so some people in northern Utah may hear a boom and feel vibrations moments after a detonation, the release said.
