Fire concerns for the weekend with hot, dry and windy conditions ahead

SALT LAKE CITY (ABC4) — Happy weekend, Utah! We are keeping an elevated fire risk for the weekend with temperatures hovering right around average for this time of year.

We have kicked off August and you can expect daytime highs to run in the mid 90s for most valleys, mid to upper 80s for higher terrain, and upper 90s to low 100s for the typical hot spots for the weekend. Mostly clear to partly cloudy skies are expected, but we will see hazy sunshine and smoke-filled skies primarily on the eastern side of the state due to winds and wildfires burning in or near Utah. 

We have a slight chance that some isolated, high based storms develop on the fringe of our ridge of high pressure. Right now, that would be toward the NW corner of the state and with such dry air at the surface, we would likely just see gusty outflow boundary winds. There’s a slight chance of a storm, so stay weather aware.

The dry air and windy conditions will keep an elevated fire threat, especially for Central, South Central and Southeast mountains where a Red Flag Warning is in effect through 10 pm Saturday. Unfortunately, that’s where the Monroe Canyon Fire is burning over 55,000 acres with no signs of slowing down. The Monroe Canyon, White Sage, and Dragon Bravo Fires on the north rim of the Grand Canyon, will continue pumping smoke into the Beehive State. Southwest winds will keep the thicker plumes of smoke east of I-15, but we could see some periods of haze sneak into western Utah as well. The thickest smoke will be seen along I-70, Castle Country, the Uinta Basin, and the Four Corners region. Moderate air is expected in all counties where air is monitored.  

On top of weekend fire danger, we will see gusty SW winds increasing as an area of low pressure tracks inland and that means fire danger will increase. A Fire Weather Watch has been issued for Monday afternoon through Monday evening for most of central and southern Utah. This watch will likely evolve into a Red Flag Warning by Sunday, so we will start the week with critical fire danger.

We’ll keep you posted on the latest developments in our 4Warn Weather forecast both on-air and online, we are Good4Utah!