Records fall as heat wave grips Utah

SALT LAKE CITY — Utah temperature records are starting to fall as a "heat dome" settles over the state.

The temperature at Salt Lake City International Airport reached 106 degrees on Thursday, snapping the previous record of 104 degrees set in 2021. It comes a day after scorching temps matched the city's July 10 record of 104 degrees.

KSL meteorologist Kristen Van Dyke said Salt Lake City could set new daily records or match existing records, again, on Friday and Saturday, as well. The hottest day ever recorded in Salt Lake City remains 107 degrees, which has been matched five times since the National Weather Service began collecting city weather data in 1874.

"We're in that territory where, any of these days, we could be flirting with that 107," Van Dyke said, adding it appears Utah's capital city will set a new record for most consecutive days at 104 degrees or hotter over the next few days.

The weather service also reported a few other daily records broken or tied on Thursday:

• Cedar City: 103 degrees (previous record was 102 set in 2003).
• City Creek Water Plant: 98 degrees (previous record was 97 set in 2012).
• Kanab: 106 degrees (ties record set in 1959).
• Mountain Dell Dam: 99 degrees (previous record was 97 set in 2018).
• Provo: 105 degrees (previous record was 103 set in 2012).
• Tooele: 103 degrees (previous record was 102 set in 2021).

Downtown Salt Lake City broke a daily record on Thursday after it tied its daily record on Wednesday. Rosette, in Box Elder County, set new daily records for its highest minimum temperature when its overnight low only fell to 72 degrees on Wednesday and 76 degrees on Thursday.

As with much of the country, it's been extremely hot across Utah, even in areas where records haven't been broken. The National Weather Service reported valley temperatures of close to over 100 degrees from Logan to St. George and Vernal to Moab Thursday afternoon. All-time high temperatures could be tested in other Utah cities over the next few days, Van Dyke said.

Saturday will likely be the peak of the current heat wave, before temperatures slide closer to the state's mid-July normals and the high-pressure system behind the heat dome moves east, Van Dyke said. Salt Lake City is forecast to reach 102 degrees on Sunday, before highs could top out in the upper 90s early next week.

"It's not much of a drop, but the 90s — I think — will feel a lot nicer going in Monday and Tuesday," she said.

Monsoonal moisture is also expected to return to Utah as the system moves out, producing scattered showers that could impact various parts of the state early next week.

Full seven-day forecasts for areas across Utah can be found online, at the KSL Weather Center.

Impacts of the conditions

Utah remains drought-free this week, but the heat wave arrived as the state is drying out. The U.S. Drought Monitor reported Thursday about one-third of Utah is now "abnormally dry," up from about a quarter of the state last week. Most of the Wasatch Front is now included in the category for the first time this year, joining the eastern and southwest parts of the state.

Monsoonal storms could help reduce some of the drying conditions, beginning next week.

Meanwhile, new fire restrictions are set to go into place for central Utah as the dry conditions remain an issue. Stage 1 fire restrictions will be applied to federal, state and unincorporated private land in Juab, Millard, Piute, Sanpete, Sevier and Wayne counties beginning on Friday, excluding parts of Uinta-Wasatch-Cache and Manti-La Sal national forests in those areas.

Under the restrictions:

• No campfires or open fires outside of agency-improved and maintained campgrounds and homesites are allowed. Running water is required at cabins or homesites on unincorporated private land. People can also use devices fueled by liquid petroleum.
• No discharging of fireworks or other pyrotechnic devices outside of incorporated city limits or on public lands. Fireworks are illegal everywhere in Utah except for some windows between July 22-25.
• No smoking near vegetation or outside of a developed recreation site, personal vehicle or building.
• No shooting of exploding targets or tracer ammunition.
• No cutting, grinding or welding in areas of dry vegetation. Acetylene torches are included in the ban.
• Equipment without a working and properly maintained spark arrestor may not be used.

Similar restrictions had already been enacted in Beaver, Box Elder, Davis, Cache, Garfield, Iron, Kane, Morgan, Rich, Salt Lake, Utah, Washington and Weber counties.

"Fire danger is rapidly increasing daily in central Utah," said Josh Tibbetts, fire management officer for the Bureau of Land Management's Color Country District. "Recent wildfires have grown rapidly on windy days and have the potential to threaten our communities and public lands. Preventing human-caused wildfires is a priority for all land management agencies right now."

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