This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2007, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Posted: 5:15 PM- It's been 41 days since there was any recordable rain in Salt Lake City.
That's a bit shy of the state record of 63 days without rain set between Sept. 11 and Nov. 12, 1952, but throw in above average temperatures and the result is a hot dry summer in Utah.
"We had days with 3 percent relative humidity," said Monica Traphagen, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service here. "While we're dry here, we're not usually that dry."
Thunderstorms rolling through recently have raised humidity levels, but as of Tuesday they had delivered no measurable rain, she said.
The last rain the Salt Lake area saw was a storm that dumped all the average rainfall for June in one day, June 6, and since then there's been eight days of temperatures of 100 degrees or higher, Traphagen said. The annual average is five days of 100 degrees or more.
The state has been stuck under a high pressure system that has let temperatures soar, blocked most storms and kept humidity so low that massive wildfires have engulfed bone-dry grasses.
The largest wildfire in state history burned across more than 567 square miles of land in Millard and Beaver counties, breaking the previous record of 148 square miles.
The state's wildfire season officially begins this week, even though significant wildfires have been reported for the last six weeks. The fact that the state had already seen such enormous fire losses prompted Gov. Jon Huntsman on Tuesday to issue a declaration asking local officials to join in a fireworks ban already called for state and federal lands.
Utah celebrates a second fireworks holiday on July 24 in celebration of the day Mormon pioneers entered the Salt Lake valley in 1847.
The dried-out grasses fueling wildfires and fireworks concerns also are inadequate summer range for cattle. Ranchers are considering bringing cattle in from the range to eat expensive bagged feed, said David Roberts, president of the Beaver County chapter of the Utah Farm Bureau.
"In most areas up until the present time it was fine, but the lack of rain the last 30 days definitely has dried it up," Roberts said.
Forty-two percent of range and pasture land in the state is listed as poor to very poor, according to Utah crop conditions reported by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and Food.
"We are concerned about the drought conditions in addition to the fires that have been plaguing some of the areas," said Kyle Stephens, deputy commissioner for the Utah Department of Agriculture and Food.
Assessments from each of the state's counties detailing the effects of the drought are expected to be completed next week, Stephens said.
It's likely those assessments will result in the department recommending the governor's office make a request for a disaster declaration due to drought - a step toward getting farmers and ranches federal aid.
Little relief is in sight, and July is typically the state's hottest and driest month, Traphagen said.
On July 4, the state may have hit a new record high. A 118-degree reading near St. George on the Utah-Arizona border is still being investigated, she said.
"We've been running on average 10 degrees above normal, which isn't always a record, but it's still hot," Traphagen said.
The thunderstorms that have been teasing the area bringing slightly lower temperatures but not rain, are forecast to be gone by Wednesday.
"The forecast shows increasing temperatures around 100 tomorrow and then 101-ish the next few days after that," she said.