This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2016, and information in the article may be outdated.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.
The poet T.S. Eliot once lamented, "There is not even silence in the mountains, but dry sterile thunder without rain."
Welcome to Utah's week-ending weather, a forecast of thunderstorms, gusty winds and nary a drop of rain to slake the thirst of the state's parched high deserts, valleys and forests.
Those conditions, along with continuing hot temperatures, prompted the National Weather Service to place the central core of the state under a Red Flag Warning for elevated wildfire danger. From Nephi to Green River, Delta to Milford and stretching to just north of Escalante, forecasters noted gusts in excess of 40 mph and the potential for dry lightning made the region a tinderbox.
The advisory was in effect Thursday through midnight, but dry conditions will generally prevail well into the weekend.
The Salt Lake and Tooele valleys, meanwhile, expected to dodge much of the thunderstorm activity over the next few days. Friday, like Thursday, was forecast to reach daytime highs in the mid- to low-90s under mostly clear, sunny skies. Saturday will cool a few degrees into the upper-80s.
Southern Utahns get both the heat and the raucous skies, though some scattered rain showers were expected along with thunderclaps and lightning on Thursday. Mostly clear, sunny skies will rule Friday and Saturday, with temperatures in the upper-90s prevailing during the period.
Exception Cache and Washington counties, which earned "green," or healthy grades, the Utah Division of Air Quality put the entire state in its "yellow," or compromised category for particulate pollution levels extending into the weekend.
The Intermountain Allergy & Asthma website reported that chenopods were "high" and mold "moderate" on its pollen index as of Thursday.
For more extensive forecast information, visit The Salt Lake Tribune's weather page at: http//www.sltrib.com/weather/.
To read Eliot's "What the Thunder Said," visit: http://www.poetryarchive.org/poem/waste-land-part-v-what-thunder-said
Twitter: @remims