This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2017, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
It can't still be winter, not with the potential for record-setting warm temperatures expected a full week before the official arrival of spring.
As Vizzini declared in "The Princess Bride," that "would be absolutely, totally, and in all other ways inconceivable."
And yet, Wesley inconceivably scaled the Cliffs of Insanity — and the Wasatch Front's forecast through the midweek and beyond calls for temperatures to approach the mid-70s, about 20 degrees above normal.
And it is entirely conceivable that records could be set. Tuesday was expected to hit 72 in Salt Lake City, 2 degrees off a 2013 record high of 74 degrees. Wednesday, expected to reach 74 degrees, seems a sure bet to beat the 2015 mark of 73, but Thursday (66) will fall well short of a 2015 record of 74 degrees.
The National Weather Service says northern Utahns can thank high pressure aloft for continued dry and unseasonably warm temperatures through the midweek.
Southern Utahns sure aren't waiting for March 20's official spring arrival, either. Old Man Winter has been evicted early in Utah's Dixie, too, with highs on Wednesday to soar into the low-80s under sunny skies, a near mirror image of Tuesday's forecast. The redrocks region will top 80 degrees again on Thursday.
No, not even Miracle Max could revive winter now. The forecast does not lie. Winter isn't "mostly dead," it's "all dead." Spring is as sure as "true love," or even the Utah Division of Air Quality's all "green" grades for fresh air statewide through the midweek period. The Utah Avalanche Center rated the risk for backcountry mountain snowslides at "moderate" for the Logan, Ogden, Salt Lake, Provo and Uintas districts, while the Skyline, Moab and Abajo mountains were at "low" risk as of Tuesday.
For more extensive forecast information visit the Tribune's weather page at http://www.sltrib.com/news/weather/.
Twitter: @remims