First full fall weekend brings summer-like heat and record potential

SALT LAKE CITY ( ABC4 ) — Happy Saturday, Utah! Get ready for another sizzler of a day with temperatures even higher than yesterday’s, climbing as high as 15-20° above seasonal norms.

That means daytime highs will be in the low to mid 90s for most Utahns, 80s for higher terrain, and low to mid 100s for lower Washington County. If the forecasted highs come to fruition, we’ll see several heat records broken. St. George is set to reach 103° which would break the daily record high by one degree. Salt Lake on the other hand could beat their record by three degrees, topping out at 94°.

Sunday’s highs will reflect what we see today, but some shade will be provided thanks to cloud cover, and possibly rain for a lucky few. A system spinning off the coast of southern California will kick some Pacific moisture into the region which will ride on the warm southerly wind up through Utah. Afternoon and evening showers will be favored by higher elevations along the spine of the state which will be short-lived and should disperse by Monday morning. We can’t rule out an isolated shower or two in the west desert and southwest Utah, but it’s hard to say how it’ll play out right now.

We kick off the workweek which much-needed relief from the heat in the north, but the south will be slow to cool. This is thanks to a dry cold front skimming northern Utah, but the southerly winds keep it from dipping too far south. Temperatures could drop by 10-15° on Monday but are still above seasonal norms by a few degrees. Tuesday will be the coolest day in the north with highs in the upper 70s for most, then it warms back up to the 80s. Southern Utah will still hold onto to their bit of summer temps with highs in the upper 80s and low 90s to start the workweek, upper 90s in the St. George area.

Yesterday, St. George claimed 2024 as the second most 100°+ days in a year with a total of 90 days so far and more on the way. If they hit 100° again on Monday, it will be the latest triple-digit day recorded ever. Salt Lake will tie their latest 90°+ day this Sunday but will drop off before having the chance to break it.

The high pressure responsible for the heat is also keeping things dry, apart from the brief showers over the mountainous terrain this Sunday. We will close out the month with most places seeing well below half of the monthly average, and St. George has not seen a single drop of rain all month. Dry conditions stick around into next week.

The bottom line? Record-breaking heat holds on through the weekend, but relief is in sight for northern Utah.

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

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