SALT LAKE CITY ( ABC4 ) – Happy Pioneer Day, Utah! We celebrate the holiday with a spike in daytime highs, thanks to a large high-pressure ridge centering up over Utah, Arizona and Nevada.
Temperatures will be roughly 5-10° above average, nearing record highs in northern Utah with Salt Lake City forecast to hit 104° this afternoon, 1° shy of the record high of 105° set back in 1931.
This heat poses a danger, particularly for sensitive groups, and a Heat Advisory will go into effect at noon. The advisory is for the Wasatch Front, Great Salt Lake Desert and Mountains, Tooele and Rush Valleys, Cache Valley/Utah Portion, and Eastern Juab/Millard Counties. The advisory holds on until 10 p.m., and with many people attending parades, celebrating outdoors with families, or hitting our local outdoor hot spots, it’s incredibly important to prioritize heat safety.
On top of high heat statewide for the holiday, we also have storm and flash flood potential in parts of Southern Utah.
Lingering moisture in place will lead to more afternoon storms in the higher terrain, heavily focused on the southwest, but also possible in the West Desert and South-Central Utah, with most areas up north staying dry. Some of these storms could hold together and roll into nearby valleys, so keep your eyes to the skies!