Utah forecast: Hot, dry breezy; then hotter, drier and gusty

Utah's midweek forecast: Hot, dry and breezy with a 100 percent chance of getting hotter, drier and windier.

That being the case, the National Weather Service placed the western half of the state under a "Red Flag" wildfire warning through 10 p.m. Tuesday. Don't be surprised to see that warning reissued on Wednesday, with relative humidity throughout the state barely in the single digits, forests and rangelands tinder dry, winds gusting past 30 mph and the potential for rain almost as rare as Democratic majority in the Utah Legislature.

The Wasatch Front's forecast was a smoldering one, with daytime high temperatures hitting 100 degrees on Wednesday, up a couple degrees from Tuesday's heat. The region also could expect steady breezes of 10-20 mph.

But if the late "Dune" author Frank Herbert visited southern Utah this week, he might think he'd landed in the middle of a sizzling Arrakis. True, there's not a sandworm to be found in Utah's Dixie, but there are desert tortoises — and Herbert could make a fortune selling stillsuits.

The region's forecast called for highs Tuesday and Wednesday in the 102-105 degree range. However, there was a slight chance of isolated thunderstorms that might bring a spatter of rain here and there.

"Yellow," or compromised air quality grades were predicted for Salt Lake, Davis, Weber and Utah counties into the midweek while the Utah Division of Air Quality gave the remainder of the state's counties "green," or healthy ratings.

The Intermountain Allergy & Asthma website listed only mold at "high" on its pollen index, while grass was "moderate" and all other allergens "low" as of Monday.

For more extensive forecast information, check the Tribune's weather page at sltrib.com/weather.

remims@sltrib.com

Twitter: @remims