This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2016, and information in the article may be outdated.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.
It will be brief. It will be arguable. But yes, officially Utah is in for a "cooling" trend as the week draws to a close.
After Thursday's thermometers once again flirted with triple-digit readings along the Wasatch Front, Friday was to see about a 10-degree retreat in northern Utah. Salt Lake City's forecast highs, for example, ranged from 97 on Thursday and 90 on Friday to 81 on Saturday. On Sunday, though, it will be back to the mid-90s.
Southern Utah's meteorological participation in the cooling was token by comparison, however. St. George, pegged at 106 degrees on Thursday, will dip a mere 2 degrees on Friday, and is to reach 103 on Saturday, before hitting 107 in Sunday.
On both ends of the state, however, there will be some breezy relief Friday evening, with winds in the 20-30 mph range along the Wasatch Front, and 10-20 mph in the southwest.
So, hot, hot days, followed by a John Cougar Mellencampesque "Sweet evening breeze [that] blows around my thoughts and memories."
No so sweet, however, will be the air out there. The Utah Division of Air Quality — with the exception of "green," or healthy Cache County — grades the entire state as in the "yellow," or moderate zone for particulate pollution into the weekend.
What's more, even that compromised air will come with elevated allergens. The Intermountain Allergy & Asthma website reported that grass, mold and cattail were "high" on its pollen index; chenopods came in at "moderate" as of Thursday morning.
For more extensive forecast information, visit The Salt Lake Tribune's weather page at: http//www.sltrib.com/weather/.
Twitter: @remims