This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2016, and information in the article may be outdated.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.
Storm clouds, thunder and rain will usher in northern Utah's October, a time to mourn the weakening sun, and treasure bursts of color radiating from dying leaves.
In U2's "October" album, Bono sang of an ominous, lyrical month when, "the trees are stripped bare of all they wear [but] what do I care. . . . Kingdoms rise and kingdoms fall, but you go on and on."
So we will, feeling the last vestiges of the year's summer on our necks, when temperatures Thursday through Saturday, the first day of October, hover in the upper-70s along the Wasatch Front — even as we tote jackets for increasingly chill mornings in the mid- to upper-50s.
Through the remainder of the work week and into the weekend, northern Utahns also will see cycles of thunderstorms and scattered showers under cloudy, windy skies.
In some places, that rain will be heavy, if isolated. The National Weather Service issued a Flash Flood Watch for portions of central and eastern Utah through Thursday night. Recreationists were warned to steer clear of slot canyons and normally dry creek and river beds.
Southern Utahns, too, will see a decidedly wetter turn as September winds down. Thursday's forecast called for isolated showers and thunderclaps, even as highs in the mid-80s were predicted. Storm clouds will persist into early Friday, though clearing skies will give way to sunnier conditions by Friday afternoon and Saturday.
Highs on those days will range into the mid- to upper-80s, while overnight lows will be in the upper-50s.
The Utah Division of Air Quality awarded statewide "green," or healthy grades extending into the weekend.
The Intermountain Allergy & Asthma website reported that sagebrush and mold were "high," but other allergens were too low to index as of Thursday.
For more extensive forecast information, visit The Salt Lake Tribune's weather page at: http//www.sltrib.com/weather/.
Twitter: @remims