This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2012, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Cloudy, gusty and wetter weather was the forecast Wednesday for northern Utah, bringing at least a temporary halt to record-setting hot spring temperatures for the region earlier this week.
The mercury was to dip a few degrees in southern Utah, too, but with little chance of rain there and winds of up to 25 mph whipping through parched high desert vegetation, the risk for wildfires remained high.
Indeed, the National Weather Service issued a "Red Flag" or extreme risk warning for rapidly spreading blazes in the grasslands, sagebrush and forests of Utah's Dixie. That advisory also encompassed the western deserts from the state's northern to southern borders, as well as central and eastern Utah, from Wyoming in the north to the Arizona border to the south. That warning was to officially kick in at 9 a.m. Wednesday and run through 10 p.m.
Air quality statewide was graded "Green," or good by the Utah Division of Environmental Quality.
After a record-setting 94 degrees on Monday, Salt Lake City was forecast to reach only 83 on Tuesday and, as a new Pacific storm system rolled in, just 66 degrees on Wednesday. Ogdenites looked for a high of 64 degrees Wednesday on the heels of Tuesday's 79; Provo expected 69 and 86, respectively; Logan 62 and 74; Wendover 67 and 81; Duchesne 69 and 83; Cedar City 79 and 87; St. George 93 and 99; and Moab 85 and 95 degrees.