So, here’s your northern Utah forecast: It’s hot and humid with smoke from wildfires in and out of the state, making already polluted urban valley skies downright unhealthy to breathe.
“The Lovin‘ Spoonful” would feel right at home. “Hot town, summer in [Salt Lake] city, back of my neck getting dirty and gritty,” indeed.
Still, hope — seemingly like the Wasatch Front’s lousy air quality of late — springs eternal. Some cycles of thunderstorms and rain showers, albeit isolated, could bring a measure of relief to Utahns’ lungs heading toward the weekend.
After the sweating and gasping on Thursday, the Salt Lake and Tooele valleys anticipate early Friday morning storm clouds. Thunder claps and scattered rains are expected to continue throughout the day and into Saturday.
High temperatures will be in the upper-80s on Friday and Saturday, down from Thursday’s mid-90s along the Wasatch Front.
Southern Utahns escape the smoke but not the heat. Still, thunderstorms and rain also are expected in Utah’s Dixie on Friday and Saturday. Highs will be in the upper-80s both of those days, down about 5-7 degrees from Thursday.
The redrocks and high deserts of Washington County also have the state’s only “green,” or healthy grade from the Utah Division of Air Quality. As the work week winds down. The Wasatch Front, from Box Elder and Cache counties south through Weber, Davis, Salt Lake, Tooele and Utah counties, are “orange” — or at levels of particulate and ozone pollution considered “unhealthy for sensitive groups.”
That means the elderly, young children and those with compromised lung or cardiac functions should avoid prolonged outdoor activity. DAQ officials also urge commuters to opt for mass transit, car pools or to work from home, if possible.
Allergy sufferers won’t be getting a break, either, as the weekend nears. The Intermountain Allergy & Asthma website on Thursday warned that sagebrush was “very high,” grass and ragweed “high,” and chenopods and mold “moderate” on its pollen index.