This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2016, and information in the article may be outdated.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.
You shuffle through nature's fallen parchment, a warm breeze filling your lungs with the sweet, musty spice of leaves protesting Death in hues of red, orange and gold.
There's your week-ending forecast, Utah.
Thursday rolled into the Wasatch Front on 10-20 mph winds and unseasonably warm dawn temperatures in the mid- to upper-50s, ushering in daytime highs in the mid-70s. So warm, in fact, that Salt Lake City broke its 1977 record high of 76 degrees for Oct. 27 with thermometers on Thursday reaching 78 degrees.
The city also set a record for a new high for its minimum temperature with 54 degrees Thursday — up one degree from 1927.
Friday and Saturday also will be warm, though less so with highs in the upper-60s, as cloud cover builds ahead of scattered rain showers in the afternoon.
Autumn, perhaps anticipating Halloween, wears the costume of summer for the next day or two in southern Utah. The redrocks and high deserts of Utah's Dixie looked for highs in the mid-80s Thursday, but Friday will bring wind, rain and highs in the mid- to upper-70s. Saturday will be breezy and warmer, hovering near 80 degrees.
While the region's mountain slopes and valleys were visually bursting with scarlet, saffron and ginger, "green" was the choice of the Utah Division of Air Quality in declaring the air healthy to breathe.
The Intermountain Allergy & Asthma website reported that only mold was "high" 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/.
Twitter: @remims