This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2015, and information in the article may be outdated.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.
Warm and hazy Thursday, followed by hot and smoky Friday, with a good chance for sizzling temperatures and sooty skies through the weekend.
There's your forecast, Utah — thanks to a foul mix of typical Beehive State August weather and smoke drifting in from massive wildfires in California and Washington state.
Indeed, health officials warn that the in-flow of forest fire pollution is degrading air quality to levels that pose serious risk to the elderly, young children and those with heart or respiratory ailments. Those at-risk groups are being urged to stay indoors and avoid prolonged outdoor activity; motorists are being asked to limit trips or choose mass transit.
Salt Lake, Davis, Utah, Weber, Tooele, Washington, Duchesne and Uintah counties all were graded as "yellow," or compromised by the Utah Division of Air Quality through the weekend, with Box Elder and Cache counties getting air quality assessments of "orange," or unhealthy. Only Carbon County had a "green" grade heading into this weekend.
The Intermountain Allergy & Asthma website rated chenopods "very high," mold as "high," and sagebrush and grass as "moderate" on its pollen index as of Thursday.
For more extensive forecast information, visit the Tribune's weather page at http://www.sltrib.com/weather.
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