This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2015, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Mother Nature is celebrating Martin Luther King Jr. Day with some light rain and mountain snow in northern Utah.
A cold front will bring a chance for the precipitation Monday, but the air quality across the state will remain a mixed bag.
Duchesne County can expect an "orange" rating on Monday, which means the air is unhealthy for young children, the elderly and those with compromised lung or heart conditions. The air in the eastern Utah county will improve only slightly into "yellow," or moderate, on Tuesday, according to the Utah Division of Air Quality.
Box Elder and Cache counties will also be in the "yellow" on Monday, before clearing up Tuesday.
It's been a dry winter, to state the obvious — but just how dry? So far, the National Weather Service has measured only 6.8 inches of snow in Salt Lake City — when the average for the city by now is almost four times that, at 25.8 inches.
It's been warm, too. On Sunday, Brigham Young University set a new record high temperature for Jan. 18, with 61 degrees. The previous record for the day was 58, set in 1998. Laketown, in Rich County, also broke its record for the day with a high of 53; the previous record, set all the way back in 1920, was 50 degrees.
As for the here and now, Salt Lake City can expect a high temperature of 52 degrees Monday, followed by 42 degrees Tuesday. The St. George area, meanwhile, can expect highs around 60 both days.
A moderate risk for avalanches persists in Utah's mountains Monday and into Tuesday, according to the Utah Avalanche Center.
For more detailed forecast information, visit The Salt Lake Tribune's weather page.
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