Now that the weekend thunderstorms are over, citizens of northern Utah — and Salt Lake City, in particular — may once again experience hazy skies and increased air pollution levels, at least early in the coming week.
The Utah Department of Environmental Quality tweeted that “air quality forecast models are showing more smoke coming from the California fires” into the northern part of Utah. “ … This will likely result in visual smoke and will increase air pollution levels through at least Monday.”
As a result, the three-day air-quality forecast issued by the DEQ projected a “Yellow” or “Moderate” status for all monitored areas in the state with the exception of Iron and Washington counties, which are in the “Green” or “Healthy” range.
The DEQ recommended that those who are impacted by fire smoke (and especially those in sensitive groups — very young or 65-plus; those with heart or lung conditions) should reduce potential exposure by staying inside as much as possible and by avoiding outside exertion.
Other recommendations include “avoid adding emissions by reducing car trips and skipping the grill and lawnmower. Keep indoor air clean by turning off the swamp cooler, using air filters, closing the fresh air intake on window A/C units, and postpone vacuuming to avoid kicking up dust.”
One bit of good news impacting air-quality conditions is that the Parleys Canyon Fire, which has been raging since Aug. 14, is now considered 100% contained as of Saturday night/Sunday morning.
Meanwhile, the thunderstorms that led to numerous warnings from the National Weather Service throughout the state on Saturday are not expected to be duplicated in the coming week.
On Saturday, multiple areas across the Wasatch Front, including Tooele, Box Elder and Cache counties, were affected by a Severe Thunderstorm Warning from the NWS.
Flash flood warnings were issued for Salt Lake County and the Parleys Canyon burn scar area. Urban and Small Stream Flood Advisories were issued for southeastern Davis County, southwestern Morgan County, central Salt Lake County, and western Summit County. Warnings for penny-sized hail and winds of up to 70 miles per hour were issued for areas across the Wasatch Front, including Salt Lake, Tooele, Box Elder and Cache counties.
However, barring the effects of smoke from those California wildfires, the projection for most of the week for most of the state is sun and clear skies. A small chance of thunderstorms (10-20%) is considered possible for the eastern-most part of the state on Wednesday and Thursday evenings.