textproduct: Salt Lake City

KEY MESSAGES, Issued 949 PM MDT Thu Jul 30 2026

- Dangerous heat will develop across the entire forecast area this weekend as a strong ridge of high pressure settles in bringing an increased risk for heat related illness.

- Elevated to near-critical fire weather conditions will occur for portions of Utah Sunday and Monday.

- The next monsoon surge is increasing in probability as early as next Thursday.

DISCUSSION, Issued 949 PM MDT Thu Jul 30 2026

The main story over the next few days will be a building area of high pressure across the Desert Southwest. This nearly 600 dam high will bring another round of very hot, very dry conditions to Utah. Extreme Heat Warnings remain in effect for the Wasatch Front and portions of southern Utah, with many other areas under Heat Advisories as early as Friday. No changes with this package for the heat headlines.

A weak dry cold front will cross into northern Utah Sunday morning, quickly retreating north before a stronger, but drier cold front crosses northern and central Utah Monday. With the northern stream remaining active, additional weak, dry cold fronts will cross northern Utah through at least Tuesday. This will keep temperatures around 5 to 8 degrees cooler than the very hot temperatures over the weekend across northern and central Utah. Southern utah will see less moderation, only around 1 to 3 degrees.

The next potential monsoon surge looks to impact southern Utah as early as mid to late week, with ensemble members currently split in timing, with around 50% of members indicating a monsoon surge would start as early as next Thursday. That's the next real shot for precipitation for most of the region, however. This long, hot, dry period will likely exasperate fire weather conditions once again.

AVIATION...KSLC

Southerly winds will continue at the terminal through the morning hours. VFR conditions will prevail with elevated wildfire smoke producing hazy skies, but no surface VIS reductions. A northerly wind shift is anticipated between 19-20z, with a shift back to south between 03-04z.

REST OF UTAH AND SOUTHWEST WYOMING...Winds will remain light and terrain-driven during the valid TAF period. VFR conditions will prevail with elevated wildfire smoke producing hazy skies but no surface VIS reductions. Isolated rain showers could bring periodic gusty and erratic winds to KEVW and this afternoon.

FIRE WEATHER, Issued 355 AM MDT Fri Jul 31 2026

High pressure will settle into the desert southwest through the weekend, allowing for a continued drying trend along with hotter temperatures. For today, isolated and generally light showers will linger, mainly over the higher terrain of northern Utah before shower chances diminish for Saturday and Sunday. Relative humidities will continue to trend downward, with single digit afternoon relative humidities spreading across most western Utah valleys today, and across most of the remaining valleys by tomorrow. This will be accompanied by increasingly poor overnight recoveries in the 15-25% range. Mountains will generally see afternoon relative humidities less than 15% over the weekend. Meanwhile, temperatures will trend 5-10 degrees above normal for this time of year, with most valleys seeing highs in the triple digits.

A more active pattern near the Canadian border next week will weaken the high pressure and push a weak cold front into northern Utah on Monday. Near this cold front, winds will increase, and combined with the dry conditions in place, will bring locally critical to near-critical fire weather conditions to the area Sunday and Monday. Thereafter, temperatures will rebound a bit, with hot and dry conditions continuing through at least Wednesday. Models are signaling a potential return of moisture to at least southern Utah by late next week.

SLC WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES

UT...Heat Advisory from noon Saturday to 9 PM MDT Sunday for UTZ101- 114>116-120>122.

Extreme Heat Warning from noon Saturday to 9 PM MDT Sunday for UTZ102-104>106.

Extreme Heat Warning from noon today to 9 PM MDT Sunday for UTZ123-124-128>131.

WY...None.