Records across Utah continue to fall with more heat in the forecast

SALT LAKE CITY — As August has progressed, the only things dropping are daily records.

Scores of daily heat records have fallen this month all over the state. Some Utah locations reported triple-digit heat numbers for the first time on a specific day, while others merely tied records from previous heatwaves in history.

Consecutive day heat records were also shattered in places. After reaching 101 degrees Tuesday, Cedar City hit triple-digit temperatures for the third straight day. That’s the first time it's reached three or more 100-degree days in any August on record. It reached 100 degrees again on Wednesday.

Here’s a look at some of the heat records that have fallen since the start of the month, according to the National Weather Service:

Aug. 1: Daily records

• Bryce Canyon: 90 degrees (previous record was 89, set in 2000)
• BYU Campus (Provo): 104 degrees (previous record was 103 in 2000)
• Cedar City: 99 degrees (tied record set in 1979)
• City Creek Water Plant (Salt Lake City): 99 degrees (previous record was 96, set in 2007)
• Ogden: 103 degrees (previous record was 101, set in 2000)
• Price: 98 degrees (tied record set in 2008)
• Salt Lake City: 105 degrees (previous record was 103, set in 2008)
• Wendover: 104 degrees (previous record was 103, set in 1926)

Aug. 2: Daily records

• Alpine: 100 degrees (previous record was 99, set in 1977)
• Bryce Canyon: 90 degrees (tied record set in 2000)
• BYU Campus (Provo): 105 degrees (previous record was 101, set in 2016)
• Eskdale: 103 degrees (previous record was 101, set in 1977)
• Hanksville: 107 degrees (tied record set in 2000)
• Ogden: 104 degrees (previous record was 98, set in 2016)
• Price: 100 degrees (previous record was 96, set in 2000)
• Salt Lake City: 105 degrees (previous record was 103, set in 1992)
• Scipio: 101 degrees (previous record was 99, set in 2000)
• Wendover: 103 degrees (previous record was 102, set in 1982)

Aug. 3: Daily Records

• Bryce Canyon: 88 degrees (previous record was 87, set in 1979)
• BYU Campus (Provo): 103 degrees (previous record was 101, set in 2016)
• City Creek Water Plant (Salt Lake City): 99 degrees (previous record was 95, 2016)
• Kanab: 101 degrees (tied record set in 1994)
• Mountain Dell Dam (Parley’s Canyon): 98 degrees (previous record was 97, set in 1960)
• Ogden: 98 degrees (previous record was 97, set in 2017)
• Price: 98 degrees (previous record was 95, set in 2008)
• Scipio: 99 degrees (tied record set in 2000)
• Wendover: 101 degrees (previous record was 100, set in 1960)

Six areas, including Salt Lake City (77 degrees) and Ogden (74 degrees), tied or set a record for hottest minimum temperatures for the day.

Temperatures remained warm and above average after the first heatwave but not as extreme as the start of the month. For example, the highs in Salt Lake ranged between 93 and 100 degrees from Aug. 4 through Sunday, according to AccuWeather data. The average high temperature in the city was about 96 degrees during that span.

Another wave of hot temperatures across the state began this week. Here are some of the records set this week, according to the National Weather Service:

Aug. 16: Daily Records

• Bryce Canyon: 92 degrees (previous record was 89, set in 2002)
• Cedar City: 101 degrees (previous record was 97, set in 2002)
• Kanab: 106 degrees (previous record was 106, set in 1939)
• Ogden: 98 degrees (previous record was 96, set in 2007)

Aug. 17: Daily Records

• Bryce Canyon: 92 degrees (previous record was 88 set in 2002)
• BYU Campus (Provo): 101 degrees (previous record was 100 set in 1994)
• Cedar City: 101 degrees (previous record was 97 set in 2002)
• City Creek Water Plant (Salt Lake City): 96 degrees (previous record was 92 set in 2007)
• Kodachrome Basin State Park (Cannonville): 100 degrees (previous record was 99 set in 2002)
• Mountain Dell Dam (Parley’s Canyon): 96 degrees (tied record set in 1966)
• Ogden: 102 degrees (previous record was 97 set in 1948)
• Price: 98 degrees (previous record was 96 set in 2002)
• Salt Lake City: 102 degrees (previous record was 100 set in 1967)
• Scipio: 99 degrees (previous record was 96 set in 2002)
• Wendover: 103 degrees (previous record was 100 set in 1945)

Aug. 18: Daily Records

• Alta: 82 degrees (previous record was 81, set in 1906)
• Bryce Canyon: 94 degrees (previous record was 87, set in 2002)
• BYU Campus (Provo): 103 degrees (previous record was 101, set in 1986)
• Cedar City: 101 degrees (previous record was 96, set in 2002)
• City Creek Water Plant (Salt Lake City): 97 degrees (previous record was 92, set in 2001)
• Hanksville: 106 degrees (previous record was 105, set in 2002)
• Kanab: 104 degrees (previous record was 102, set in 1939)
• Kodachrome Basin State Park (Cannonville): 101degrees (previous record was 100, set in 2002)
• Levan: 100 degrees (previous record was 99, set in 1951)
• Mountain Dell Dam (Parley’s Canyon): 96 degrees (tied record set in 1961)
• Ogden: 102 degrees (previous record was 96, set in 1948)
• Price: 101 degrees (previous record was 95, set in 2002)
• Salt Lake City: 101 degrees (previous record was 99, set in 1932)
• Scipio: 101 degrees (previous record was 99, set in 1932)
• Wendover: 101 degrees (tied record set in 1911)

Aug. 19: Daily Records

• Alta: 80 degrees (previous record was 79, set in 1986)
• Bryce Canyon: 92 degrees (previous record was 87, set in 1960)
• BYU Campus (Provo): 101 degrees (previous record was 100, set in 2001)
• Cedar City: 100 degrees (previous record was 98, set in 1992)
• Kanab: 104 degrees (previous record was 100 degrees, set in 1937)
• Kodachrome Basin State Park (Cannonville): 100 degrees (previous record was 96, set in 2002)
• Ogden: 100 degrees (previous record was 94, set in 2008)
• Price: 100 degrees (previous record was 98, set in 2007)
• Salt Lake City: 100 degrees (previous record was 99, set in 1961)

Nothing has changed as to what’s caused the extreme heat. Much like the series of 100-degree days at the end of July and beginning of August, a series of high-pressure systems have moved over the state, KSL meteorologist Dan Guthrie said. It’s blocking ocean moisture from creating clouds and it’s raising temperatures above average.

On Wednesday, the high-pressure system is setting over Utah and the West at large. The system is forcing storms currently in the region to move across Nevada and bypass most of Utah by skirting over the state, Guthrie said. As the system moves south Thursday, it could help produce some moisture in Utah’s mountain areas.

"Valleys, it’s going to be very hard for us to come by any kind of widespread activity for another 5 to 7 days," he said. "The dry times will continue and the warm times will continue. We’ll just pull back a little bit from record heat."

Forecasts call for hot weather throughout Utah on Thursday but likely a tick below record levels. The forecast calls for highs in the upper 90s throughout the Wasatch Front for the remainder of the week; highs in St. George will remain in the low 100s for the remainder of the week.

Of course, Utah isn’t alone in experiencing record heat. The National Weather Service Las Vegas station reported Sunday that it preliminary reached 130 degrees at Furnace Creek, California, near the visitor’s center of Death Valley National Park. The agency stated that if that is verified, it would be the hottest temperature in the U.S. since 1913. The all-time record high for the area is 134 degrees and was set on July 10, 1913.

The World Meteorological Organization tweeted on Tuesday that it was working to verify Sunday’s recording but indicated the weather station was properly working at the time. It added the temperature would be the hottest recorded on the globe since 1931.

There is one possible situation that could bring Utah rain as early as next week. Hurricane Genevieve, which was a Category 4 storm at one point, is making its way north to a spot just west of the Baja peninsula in Mexico. It’s expected to continue to significantly weaken as it moves northwest over the weekend before the remnants of the storm are forecasted to move northeast toward California and possibly toward Utah, according to Guthrie.

If it does, Utah might be able to experience precipitation relief by the midpoint of next week, he said.

As for Utah heat records, Salt Lake City is knocking on the door of a pair of August climate records. According to the National Weather Service climate data, the average high temperature through Tuesday is 97.7 degrees and the average temperature is 84 degrees. Should that hold up, it would shatter the average August high-temperature record 95.7 degrees set in 1967 and the average August temperature of 82.7 degrees set in 2013.

The average low temperature through Tuesday is 69.7 degrees, which is a tick below the other main August heat record. The hottest average minimum temperature record is 70.8 degrees, which was also set in 2013.

Visit the KSL Weather Center for more forecasts across Utah over the next seven days.

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