Smoky skies and hot temperatures ruled northern Utah at the midweek, but incoming thunderstorms and rain could help clear the air on Thursday and Friday.
The National Weather Service predicted high temperatures in the low-90s and isolated thunderstorms and rain showers along the Wasatch Front for Thursday, which could scour the skies of some of the smoke from Weber County and out-of-state wildfires. Friday promised more of the same, with highs in the upper-80s.
Southern Utahns, too, will see periodic thunderstorms and isolated showers Thursday and Friday. Highs those days will range in the low- to mid-90s throughout Utah’s Dixie.
The wildfire smoke, added to the persistently degraded ozone and particulate pollution levels of the state's northern urban valleys, brought "orange," or unhealthy-for-sensitive-groups rating for Salt Lake, Davis, Weber, Utah, Tooele and Box Elder counties through Thursday, the Utah Division of Air Quality reported.
The Intermountain Allergy & Asthma website added a double-whammy for Utahns’ lungs: chenopods and ragweed rated “very high” on Wednesday‘s pollen index. Grass, sagebrush and mold were at “high” levels.