Slightly unsettled start to the week, increasing wind and rain midweek

SALT LAKE CITY (ABC4) — Happy Monday, Utah! After a brief spurt of showers this morning, mostly clear skies have taken over the state and temperatures are climbing into the mid-60s for the Wasatch Front. Southern Utah will mainly see highs in the 70s, with St. George forecast to hit 80 degrees this afternoon.

This afternoon and evening, expect some isolated showers and possibly a thunderstorm, mostly across central and southern Utah. These won’t bring much rain, but they will kick up gusty, erratic winds. Think of them as the atmosphere’s version of a surprise party, brief, chaotic, and possibly annoying.

Tuesday brings another round of weak storms along a shifting front. Again, central and northern Utah could see some gusty winds, but widespread rain isn’t in the cards. Mostly sunshine is expected for the Wasatch Front with any chance of showers holding off until later in the evening.  Temperature-wise? We’re riding the average line … seasonable and maybe even a touch warm in spots.

By Wednesday, things mellow out under a more westerly flow. A weak disturbance could stir up some scattered showers, especially over the mountains and northeast Utah. Higher elevations might even see a few snowflakes.

From Thursday on, things get interesting again. A deeper trough out of the Pacific starts making its move, turning our winds southwesterly and ushering in more moisture. Expect isolated showers with rain in the valleys, snow in the higher elevations, but nothing too significant is expected at this point.

Winds will really pick up later in the week. Gusts will start picking up Thursday evening in southern Utah and spread north into Friday and the weekend. Southern Utah could see gusts topping 35 mph, while northern Utah and southwest Wyoming could see winds in the 20-30 mph range. Stay tuned!