This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2016, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Utahns' Memorial Day weather was as much metaphor as forecast, beginning with partly cloudy skies that occasionally wept, then seeming to sigh with gratitude toward clear, sunny afternoon horizons.
Maybe it reflected what Gen. George S. Patton once said of the day a nation remembers its ward dead: "It is foolish and wrong to mourn the men who died. Rather we should thank God that such men lived."
As Utahns raised rows of flags and flowers over the graves of the brave, along with family picnics and barbecues, temperatures along the Wasatch Front were forecast to near 80 degrees. Tuesday also will bring temperatures in the upper-70s, along with mostly clear skies.
Southern Utah's high deserts and redrocks region also began the week with periodic showers and even afternoon thunderstorms. Highs were to flirt with the 90s on Monday, and the mercury will climb a few degrees higher on Tuesday under mostly clear, sunny skies.
However, the Utah Division of Air Quality noted that particulate pollution levels were in the moderately elevated, or "yellow" zone. The only exceptions were Box Elder, Cache and Tooele counties, which had "green," or healthy forecasts into the midweek.
The Intermountain Allergy & Asthma website reported that grass and mold were "high" and oak "moderate" on its pollen index as of Monday.
For more extensive forecast information, visit The Salt Lake Tribune's weather page at: http//www.sltrib.com/weather/.
Twitter: @remims