Weekend brings chance for isolated storms and breezy conditions with fire danger concerns

SALT LAKE CITY ( ABC4 ) — Happy weekend, Utah! A weak disturbance tracks through Utah today and a few showers and thunderstorms can’t be ruled out where lingering moisture is present, which heavily favors northern Utah.

Drier air in the south should end the storms, but strong southwesterly winds could create critical fire weather conditions. You can expect seasonal temperatures this weekend along the Wasatch Front with mid 90s for both Saturday and Sunday, while St. George won’t be too far off its average of 102º for this time of year. Low triple digits with gusty conditions should be expected in lower Washington County for the weekend.

Isolated storms will be possible in the evening as a trailing disturbance follows the cold front, and as a result, we will have a ‘Marginal’ risk of isolated severe thunderstorms for parts of northern Utah and the Wasatch Front, where the primary threat will be strong wind gusts. Severe thunderstorms can bring an abundance of lightning, wind gusts of 58+ mph, and large hail. With drier air pushing into SW Utah, our flash flood risk declines in locations like Zion and Capitol Reef National Parks, but is still possible further east in places like Grand Gulch, the San Rafael Swell and Natural Bridges.

With the return of strong southwesterly winds, fire danger is on the rise for several parts of the state. Critical fire weather conditions will exist for most of central and southern Utah. A Red Flag Warning goes into effect Saturday at 10 a.m., and at 10 p.m. for places like SW Utah, the Color Country mountains, the Central Mountains, Castle Country, and the West Desert, due to the potential of gusty winds up to 35 mph and very low relative humidity.

Sunday will be dry across the region with highs near normal around the area. The ridge will rebuild over the area early next week with a rebound to above-normal temperatures through midweek. Moisture may try to return to areas of southern Utah by midweek, potentially increasing chances of afternoon thunderstorms for southern Utah.

Bottom Line? Lingering moisture in northern Utah will allow for isolated thunderstorms, as drier air moves into southern Utah.

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

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