This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2017, and information in the article may be outdated.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.
First off, Utah's midweek forecast is not hotter than hell. That would take at least record-setting heat.
Still, perhaps it is sizzling enough to read the "All hope abandon, ye who enter here," inscribed above Infernoland's gate: Salt Lake City — having come within 2 degrees of 2006's record 95 on Tuesday — is to hit 96 on Wednesday.
That remains 4 degrees shy of breaking 1985 mark for the date, even as sunny, mostly clear skies rule the Wasatch Front. Thursday is pegged at 95 for the capital city, 3 degrees short of the 1996 record of 98.
Nonetheless, readings will be well above the upper-70s norm for this time of year. That prompted the National Weather Service to caution residents braving the sunshine to take such precautions as drinking plenty of water and dressing in loose-fitting, lightweight clothing.
And never, ever leave children or pets unattended in vehicles for any period of time during such hot weather, forecasters stress.
Southern Utahns may be closer to the Dantesque nightmare, but the temperatures broiling Utah's Dixie will remain short of history-making. For example, St. George's 101-degree forecast for Tuesday was 5 degrees below a 1996 record for the date.
Wednesday will bring temperatures around 101 to the redrocks and high deserts, still no challenge to a 1985 mark of 108 degrees. Thursday, too, will be a distant also-ran as St. George hits 99, well short of 1955's 107-degree record.
Hot weather and early-June flooding go hand-in-hand in the Beehive State. Accelerating snowmelt has the region's waterways full of cold, rushing runoff that already has claimed several lives this spring.
"Rivers and streams are running high, cold and fast. Cold water shock can cause drowning in less than a minute in these waterways," forecasters warned Tuesday. "Keep children and pets away from these areas."
That advisory came along with an official Flood Warning for northeastern Cache County's Logan River extending into mid-afternoon Thursday. As the river slopped to the tops of its banks, flooding danger was high in Logan Canyon especially.
As high mountain snow caps turned into torrents of ice-cold runoff in the Ogden area, a Flood Watch also was in place for the Weber River between the Smith Morehouse and Rockport reservoirs through Friday afternoon.
Meanwhile, airborne particulate levels were on the rise, especially in the most-populated urban valleys of the state. Salt Lake and Utah counties slid into the "orange," or unhealthy for sensitive groups category as of Tuesday; the remainder of the state was only a little better with "yellow," or moderate levels of pollutants.
Allergy-sufferers also may find conditions less than paradisaical, too: the Intermountain Allergy & Asthma website reported that grass was "very high" on its pollen index as of Tuesday, with mold and plantains at "high" and chenopods and oak "moderate."
For more extensive forecast information visit the Tribune's weather page at http://www.sltrib.com/news/weather/.
Twitter: @remims