As Utahns prepares to celebrate Juneteenth on Thursday, people should also prepare for intense heat. According to the National Weather Service, temperatures could get up to 103 degrees in the Salt Lake City area.
The service has issued a heat advisory to the Wasatch Front and other areas — from Utah County and going north and west — from noon until 11 p.m. Thursday. People are urged to stay out of the sun, seek out air-conditioned locations and, if doing outside work, take frequent breaks in cooler areas.
To help people stay out of the heat, or at least get a break from it, Salt Lake County provides public buildings as cool zones — areas the county makes available for people to “temporarily cool off and learn about available services,” according to the county’s website. However, since the county is observing the Juneteenth holiday on Thursday, many such buildings will be closed.
A county press release points out that Salt Lake City’s libraries will be open.
Normally when extreme heat hits, people can also cool off in homeless service providers or Salt Lake County libraries. People who are over 60 years old can also use county senior centers, and anyone 18 or under has free access to county recreation centers.
According to data from the National Weather Service, the region’s temperature rose above 100 degrees 20 times in 2024, the first time being on June 13 and the last on August 7. In 2023, the temperature passed the 100-degree mark 13 times, and 34 times in 2022.
Thursday’s heat is expected to be short-lived, though. In Salt Lake City, Friday’s high is predicted to be 96 degrees, Saturdays is predicted to be 83 degrees, and Sunday’s high is predicted to only get up to 73 degrees.
