Utah forecast: Sunny, chilly and worsening air quality ahead

The Utah forecast heading into the final weekend of 2013 calls for mostly sunny but chilly days and increasingly polluted skies in the state's urban valleys.

In the Salt Lake and Tooele valleys, for example, Friday's weather menu offered up highs in the mid-30s and overnight lows in the upper-teens — a near-mirror image of Thursday's forecast.

On the southwestern end of the state, in Utah's Dixie, daytime temperatures were to rise into the mid-50s in the wake of nighttime lows in the mid-20s both days.

The Utah Division of Air Quality rated breathability in most urban valleys in the "yellow," or moderate range as winter air inversions strengthened; only Box Elder, Tooele and Washington counties maintained "green," or healthy air quality in pollution indexes for the remainder of this week.

The Utah Avalanche Center began Thursday with risk projections mostly in the "considerable" range for potentially deadly backcountry snowslides; the Uintas earned a "high" risk grade.

For more detailed forecast information visit the Tribune's weather page at http://www.sltrib.com/weather.

remims@sltrib.com

Twitter: @remims