Utah's prolonged spell of thunderstorms and rain showers are over, at least for the week ahead.
You can credit the return of hot temperatures -- flirting with 100 degrees along the Wasatch Front and will into the triple digits in southern Utah -- to a high pressure system locking in over the Great Basin. The National Weather Service says this dry, northerly ridge will bake the region through Friday.
But in our desert state we can take comfort because it's a "dry heat," right? Hmm. It's dry inside a microwave, too.
The forecast is just plain hot: Salt Lake City, in the upper-90s Monday, will come close to or top 100 degrees Tuesday and Wednesday; in Utah's Dixie, St George -- 104 on Monday -- hits 105 degrees on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Exiting along with the rain were hopes for atmospheric relief not only from the heat, but pollution. The Utah Division of Air Quality graded Salt Lake, Davis, Weber, Utah and Tooele as "orange," or unhealthy for such groups as the elderly, children and those with compromised lung or cardiac functions through the midweek.
The remainder of the state generally was "yellow," or at moderate levels for ozone and particulate pollution.
Mold was at "high" and weeds were "moderate" on the Intermountain Allergy & Asthma website as of Monday. Other allergens were "low," or did not register.
For more extensive weather information visit the Tribune's weather page.
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