This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2014, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Northern Utah was in for a midweek of mixed sunshine, blustery winds, valley rain and periodic thunderstorms in the mountains.
Is that a Garbage kind of forecast, or what? Sure it is. Some people are only happy when it rains, only happy when the forecast is … complicated.
Consider this: After Tuesday's forecast for highs near 80 degrees and winds of 10-20 mph, with evening rain and thunder on tap, the Wasatch Front looked for mostly cloudy skies Wednesday morning leading into scattered afternoon and evening showers and mountain storms with the thermometer dipping into the low- to mid-70s.
But drive a few hours south, and sunny, breezy conditions were to prevail. Utah's Dixie looked for highs in the low- to mid-80s on Wednesday, along with winds in the 15-25 mph range.
Here is the tradeoff: lack of rain and plenty of wind means dry conditions become only more parched, and that prompted the National Weather Service to issue a Red Flag Warning for wildfire danger in southwestern Utah through 10 p.m. Tuesday — and tinder-dry conditions are expected to prevail in southwestern Utah throughout the week.
The Utah Division of Air Quality rated breathability as "green," or healthy, statewide heading into the latter part of this week.
The Intermountain Allergy & Asthma website's pollen index was "very high" for oak, "high" for cedar and mulberry and "moderate" for sycamore.
For more extensive forecast information, visit The Tribune's weather page at http://www.sltrib.com/weather.
Twitter: @remims