This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2017, and information in the article may be outdated.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.
Sunscreen. Sunglasses. Light-colored, loose clothing. A broad-brimmed hat. Drink lots of water. And never leave children or pets inside hot cars.
That's not Utah's forecast, but it is good, perhaps life-saving advice for the unseasonably hot, late-spring weather in the days ahead.
After Wednesday's expected high of 98 degrees (the record of 100 was set in 1985), Salt Lake City looked for a wilting, windy, sun-drenched Thursday with a high temperature of 97 degrees. If the capital's official thermometer at Salt Lake City International Airport ends up just a single degree higher, that would tie the 1996 record for the date.
Friday, at 92 for a high, will be far short of a 1973 mark of 101 degrees. Still, temperatures heading toward the weekend will be remain 10-20 degrees above the norm for this time of year.
The calendar says its early June, but it already feels like mid-summer in southern Utah's redrocks and high desert regions. St. George looked for a 1996 record-matching 98 degrees Thursday under clear, sunny skies — the day after what would be a record-setting 101 (the previously mark was 100 degrees, set in 1985).
However, Friday's forecast for 97-degree heat in Utah's Dixie will be 10 degrees shy of a 1985 record.
Hot, dry, windy weather has much of southern Utah tinder-dry. The National Weather Service issued a Red Flag wildfire danger warning from noon Thursday through 10 p.m. Sunday for the southwestern corner of the state from Milford south to St. George, and then east through Zion National Park to near Moab and Bluff.
In northeastern Utah, the above-normal heat translated to accelerated snowmelt and a Flood Warning, in effect through 2:30 p.m. Thursday for the Logan and Little Bear rivers.
Meantime, the Utah Division of Air Quality rated Salt Lake, Davis, Utah, Weber, Carbon and Box Elder counties at "orange," or unhealthy levels for particulate pollution on Wednesday; Thursday initially was expected to show as "yellow," or at just slightly better for air quality.
The Intermountain Allergy & Asthma website reported grass at "very high" levels on its pollen index on Wednesday, while mold and plantains were "high." Other allergens were "low," or did not register.
For more extensive forecast information visit the Tribune's weather page at http://www.sltrib.com/news/weather/.
Twitter: @remims