SALT LAKE CITY (ABC4) —Happy Friday, Utah! A hot and hazy day is on deck across the state, with some cities along the Wasatch Front challenging daily record highs.
Today’s weather: Sunny skies
Temperatures will be a couple degrees warmer than yesterday, topping out in the low to mid 100s for most valleys, and upper 90s for higher elevation valleys. Hot spots in eastern and southern Utah such as Moab, Hanksville, and Lake Powell, will reach the mid to upper 100s, while St. George and Zion National Park may exceed 110 degrees. A brief shower will be possible in the southern mountains, but it’ll be dry for the most part with mostly sunny skies.
While it’ll be mostly sunny, the skies won’t exactly be blue for everyone as hazy smoke lingers. Wildfire smoke will continue to plague the region thanks to both widespread wildfires in the Pacific Northwest and the Widemouth 2 Fire in central Utah, which is now one of the largest Utah wildfires on record.
Southeast and south-central Utah will have the thickest plumes of smoke from the Widemouth 2 Fire. Periods of patchy smoke will still impact northern and parts of southwest Utah, making for poor air quality.
Get the latest Salt Lake City weather forecasts. View live Doppler radar & closings from the ABC4 Utah weather team.
The air quality will be in the orange “Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups” category for most Utahns. That means you’ll want to limit your time outside and avoid strenuous activities, especially if you’re prone to respiratory or cardiovascular diseases because the smoke will exacerbate those issues. Smoke is hard to forecast long-term, but it seems the smoke will be present through at least the weekend, possibly longer.
Weekend weather: Triple digit temperatures
Heat alerts are in effect across the state today and this weekend. Extreme Heat Warnings will be in effect for the Salt Lake Valley, Tooele/Rush Valleys, the northern Wasatch Front, western Juab/Millard Counties, and the San Rafael Swell from noon today until midnight Sunday night. Temperatures in these locations will reach the low to mid 100s, up to 104 degrees…