textproduct: Salt Lake City

KEY MESSAGES

- Temperatures will gradually warm for the remainder of the week, reaching values up to 10F above seasonal normals by late in the weekend. Conditions will be generally dry, with the exception of northeast portions of the forecast area on Thursday.

- Despite the warmer temperatures, there is a chance of isolated freezing temperatures for some outlying Utah valleys Wednesday morning.

DISCUSSION

The cold Pacific Northwest storm system has pulled away from northern Utah this morning, with one trailing weak wave on the back edge expected to move out of the area today. In the wake of the storm system, most Utah valleys saw areas of freezing conditions, with a few hard freezes reported. High temperatures today will still be on the chilly side, with maxes averaging 10F below seasonal normals. The influence of the last exiting wave has a low chance of producing a few afternoon showers and thunderstorms over the higher terrain, with conditions otherwise remaining dry.

Temperatures are on track to steadily warm through early next week under the influence of a broad ridge, currently sitting off the Pacific coast. This ridge will initially be slow to build eastward, and this will allow a storm system to move over the front side of the ridge and into the area during the day Thursday. This will act to temporarily curb the warming trend over northern Utah and southwest Wyoming. Associated precipitation will likely be confined to northeastern portions of the forecast area, with snow levels staying relatively high on account of the warming trend.

For the weekend, confidence is increasing that the Pacific ridge will shift east, bringing more substantial warming to the forecast area. By Sunday, maxes are expected to average 10F above seasonal normals, with the very warm temperatures continuing into Monday. For day seven and beyond, there is some indication of the arrival of another storm system to make things less mild across the area, but details remain murky this far out.

REST OF UTAH AND SOUTHWEST WYOMING

VFR conditions are expected to persist across all TAF sites. Dry conditions will yield clear skies throughout the period with generally diurnal winds expected to occur at each TAF site.

FIRE WEATHER

Temperatures will steadily warm through the week, reaching values around 10F above seasonal normals by late in the weekend. Conditions will be on the dry side with light winds for much of the week, with the exception of Thursday. A storm system will temporarily curb the warming trend and bring a low chance of wetting rains to northeast Utah. The system will also bring some breezy winds, which could bring some locally critical fire weather conditions to some southern Utah valleys Thursday afternoon.

SLC WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES

UT...None. WY...None.