Utah forecast: Shivering mornings, sunshine in the afternoons

Shiver in the morning, bask in afternoon sunshine. Repeat. There's your weather recipe for the Wasatch Front through the remainder of this week.

The National Weather Service once more had a Hard Freeze Warning in place as Thursday dawned for the western half of the state and large pockets of high desert and forest lands in the Duchesne and San Rafael Swell regions. Friday morning's lows were only expected to range a few degrees above freezing.

However, daytime highs were resolutely on the rise for the state, north to south. Along the Wasatch Front, highs on Friday were to range into the upper-60s to low-70s, up 5-10 degrees from the high's forecast for Thursday.

Southern Utahns had to deal with a Wind Advisory until early Thursday afternoon, but those 25-40 mph winds were to drop off steadily through the day. Friday's forecast for Utah's Dixie called for calmer skies and temperatures in the low- to mid-80s.

The Utah Division of Air Quality rated breathability statewide in the "Green," or healthy range.

Salt Lake City's high Friday was to hit 68, up from Thursday's forecast for 62 degrees; Ogden looked for 66 and 60 degrees, respectively; Provo 70 and 62; Logan 66 and 60; Wendover 70 and 62; Duchesne 66 and 55; Cedar City 72 and 66; St. George 84 and 79; and Moab 73 and 63 degrees.

remims@sltrib.com

Twitter: @remims