Hot and dry weather persists in Utah, critical fire danger remains

The bottom line? Dry, hot and breezy conditions persist, prompting Red Flag Warnings with an elevated fire risk.

Red Flag Warnings are in effect for the Eastern Uinta Basin, Book Cliffs, Color Country Mountains, and the Central Mountains, where the Monroe Canyon Fire is burning, will hold onto theirs until tonight at 9 p.m. The rest of the alerts, including places like Grand Staircase, the Southwest & Central West Desert, San Rafael Swell, and the Mojave Desert, will expire on Wednesday night. Southwest winds of 10-25 mph with gusts ranging from 30-40 mph are on deck. Relative humidity will fall as low as 4-12% in the impacted areas. We could see some of the alerts get extended as we get closer to their expiration.  

Mostly clear skies are expected, but periods of haze and smoke will make for poor air quality. Moderate air is expected in counties where air is monitored. Our southwest flow is ushering smoke from around the region into Utah, including fires burning in Southern California, Arizona and right here in Utah. 

As far as temperatures go, daytime highs will run in the mid-90s for most valleys, mid-80s to low 90s for higher terrain, and low to mid-100s for hot spots like St. George.  Temperatures bump up a few degrees on Wednesday and Thursday, bringing the Wasatch Front close to the triple-digit range. By the end of the work week, a dry cold front will pass through the region and knock our highs a few degrees below average. We could see a day in the 80s, which would be a nice change from the summer heat we’ve seen for months. 

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