This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2016, and information in the article may be outdated.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.
Under partly cloudy to sunny skies, northern Utah will continue to see chilly days and ice-cold nights as the new work week gets under way.
On Tuesday, high temperatures along the Wasatch Front were to range in the upper-20s, with lows in the mid- to upper-teens — same as Monday's forecast. Those marks were roughly 5-7 degrees lower than the norm for this time of year.
Also not the norm — the break the region was getting from pollution-trapping winter air inversions. The Utah Division of Air Quality, as of Monday, graded the entire state as "green," or healthy, for the low levels of particulates through Wednesday.
Whether that optimistic assessment continues throughout the week depends on how a weak storm front aimed at Utah develops. The National Weather Service expected "weak ridging" to settle in over the Wasatch Front's urban valleys over the next few days; by Wednesday, the increasing cold air aloft trapping warmer air below could see inversions strengthen and air quality degrade.
Until then, live in the moment. Ask yourself, as A.A. Milne's Winnie-the-Pooh did,"What day is it?" You might hear Piglet respond, "It's today." Ah, then you can join that silly old bear in declaring, "My favorite day."
But Utah is much bigger than the Hundred-Acre Wood.
Winter's touch in southern Utah will be milder than in the north. Under sunny skies, highs Tuesday will rise into the mid- to upper-40s with overnight lows in the mid- to upper-20s, an encore for Monday's forecast in Utah's Dixie.
The Utah Avalanche Center rated the risk for potentially deadly backcountry snowslides at "moderate" for all of the state's mountain backcountry locales as of Monday.
For more extensive forecast information, visit The Salt Lake Tribune's weather page at: http//www.sltrib.com/weather.
Twitter: @remims