This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2016, and information in the article may be outdated.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.
Utah is in for a cooler, wetter spell heading toward the weekend — if temperatures in the 90s truly are cooler, and the odd rain shower or thunderstorm qualify as wet weather.
Whatever. When in hell, as the parable goes, even the brief touch of a wet finger on a tormented tongue can be fleeting paradise. So, after triple-digit, occasionally record-setting heat statewide the past week or so, we'll take it.
The Wasatch Front, where the mercury bumped up to 102 earlier this week, will see temperatures about 10-12 degrees cooler as the week winds down; southern Utahns, still sweating from sizzling heat recently in the 110s, will settle at daytime highs in the mid-90s.
The change from the hot, extremely dry weather began Wednesday as cloud cover built over northern Utah and the skies offered occasional sprinkles, along with thunder and lightning. That cycle was to continue through the weekend.
Southern Utahns, too, looked for isolated showers, punctuated by thunderclaps in the days ahead. Temperatures on Thursday were to once more hit 102 before the cooling trend kicks in, with Friday's and Saturday's highs pegged in the mid-90s.
The National Weather Service did issue a Hazardous Weather Outlook for the western two-thirds of the state. The advisory, extending into early next week, warns of gusty winds and brief, isolated pockets of heavy rain in some mountain locales.
The Utah Division of Air Quality offered a mixed bag forecast for late this week. Salt Lake, Davis, Utah, Weber and Tooele counties all earned "yellow," or compromised air quality, while the remainder of the state was "green," or healthy.
The Intermountain Allergy & Asthma website reported that mold was "high," and grass and chenopods "moderate" on its pollen index 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