This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2016, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Leslie Knope, looking at a northern Utah weekend forecast beginning warm and sunny and ending with storm clouds, likely would find comfort in mixed metaphors, and perspective.
"I've climbed a very weird and rocky mountain," the "Parks and Recreation" character might say, looking down on the Salt Lake Valley from Ensign Peak. "But the sun is rising over a sea of love and waffles and possibility, so I'm just gonna relax, take a deep breath, and enjoy this view for as long as I possibly can."
Along the Wasatch Front, the best time to take that scenic hike may be on a bright Saturday, when 10-20 mph breezes can dry trekkers' brows from highs the mid-80s — a repeat of temperatures forecast for Friday, when an 80-degree reading in Salt Lake City was the capital's warmest so far this year.
Come Sunday, though, those highs will tumble into the low-70s; thunderstorms and rain are predicted by afternoon, intensifying in the evening hours.
In southern Utah, it is as if impatient summer has arrived, dissing the calendar's insistence that it is still spring in the state's high deserts and redrock country. Saturday, repeating Friday's forecast, will see temperatures in the mid-90s across Utah's Dixie. Sunday will be a few degrees cooler as mostly clear, sunny skies give way to 10-20 mph winds and partly cloudy skies.
Stormy weather stirs and scours Utah's urban skies of pollution, and the Utah Division of Air Quality's weekend prognostications reflect that. Only rural Box Elder and Cache counties were expected to have "green," or healthy conditions on Saturday, with the rest of Utah in the "yellow," or moderate air particulate category. On Sunday the entire state will be "green,"
The Intermountain Allergy & Asthma website reported that none of the usually troublesome plants, flowers and trees registered at elevated levels on its pollen index as of Friday.
For more extensive forecast information, visit The Salt Lake Tribune's weather page at: http//www.sltrib.com/weather/.
Twitter: @remims