Potentially record-setting heat will continue through the midweek in Utah, and a Fire Weather Watch has been ordered for the Wasatch Mountains and western deserts.
Hot, dry conditions, scattered dry lightning and microburst winds topping 40 mph were expected from morning through evening hours on Wednesday in the advisory area. Combined with already tinder-dry conditions, those factors make the risk of wildfires high, the National Weather Service says.
Meanwhile, temperatures threaten to continue to match or erase previous hot weather records. On Monday, the Salt Lake City, Provo and City Creek stations reported highs of 98, 98 and 92 degrees, tying marks set in 2012. Wellington set a record at 95, bettering its 2012 record of 91.
The Salt Lake and Tooele valleys expect the mercury to climb into the mid-90s on Wednesday with a 20 percent chance of thunderstorms in the afternoon. That forecast is a couple degrees cooler than that for Tuesday’s upper-90s. Thursday’s forecast will see temperatures around 90 as clouds clear.
Old Sol is not fooling around in southern Utah, either. Wednesday will bring highs in the 104-degree range — up 2 degrees from Tuesday’s forecast. Partly cloudy skies are the rule through the midweek for Utah’s Dixie, though thunderstorms are expected by Thursday night after triple-digit temperatures.
Salt Lake, Davis, Utah, Weber, Box Elder and Tooele counties all earn “yellow,” or moderate ozone and particulate pollution grades through the weekend. The remainder of the state‘s mostly rural counties are “green,” or healthy, according to the Utah Division of Air Quality.
The Intermountain Allergy & Asthma website listed grass, chenopods and mold as “high” on its pollen index as of Tuesday. Ragweed came in at “moderate,” and other allergens were “low,” or did not register.