This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2014, and information in the article may be outdated.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.
British novelist Susan Ertz once mused that, "Millions long for immortality who don't know what to do with themselves on a rainy Sunday afternoon."
This weekend, Utahns will get the chance to figure such things out, both in the earthy microcosmic moment and its metaphysical interlude.
The National Weather Service predicts an unseasonable, fall-like storm system will dominate the Wasatch Front Saturday and Sunday, having arrived from the northwest by Friday afternoon and eventually aiming its thunder, lightning and rain showers at the central heart of the state.
Along with the storm clouds and stiff breezes, the region will see high temperatures on Saturday dip into the upper-60s — a dramatic drop from Friday's forecast of highs in the mid-80s. Sunday brings more precipitation and daytime temperatures in the mid-70s.
Southern Utahns will see isolated, scattered and relatively light rainfall within a weekend forecast dominated by partly cloudy skies and highs in the upper-80s.
Exactly when or where those showers may come in Utah's Dixie eludes forecasters. That doesn't mean, however, there's not a pattern. It's all a matter of perspective.
Navajo mystery writer Tony Hillerman, no stranger to the redrocks region, put it this way: "From where we stand the rain seems random. If we could stand somewhere else, we would see the order in it."
More to the point, enjoy it, advised honky-tonk singer Roger Miller in observing, "Some people walk in the rain, others just get wet."
The Utah Division of Air Quality rated the entire state in the "green," or healthy category heading through the weekend.
The Intermountain Allergy & Asthma website listed chenopods and mold as "high" and other allergens "low" on the pollen index as of Friday.
Visit the Tribune's weather page at http://www.sltrib.com/weather for more extensive, localized forecast content.
Twitter: @remims