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Utah's sizzling hot temperatures have abated some, but thunderstorms with little rain were expected at the mid-week along with gusty winds — a recipe for potential wildfires.
As a result, the National Weather Service put the western two-thirds of the state under a Hazardous Weather Outlook advisory extending from Tuesday toward the week's end. "Critical fire weather conditions" were especially expected to plague southwestern Utah, forecasters warned.
Indeed, Utah's Dixie expected high temperatures Wednesday in the low-100s as winds of 15-25 mph fanned the tinder-dry region. Tuesday's forecast was a bit milder: highs in the upper-90s and winds in the 10-20 mph range.
The Wasatch Front, meanwhile, looked for highs Wednesday in the mid-90s with gusts in the 15-25 mph range, compared to Tuesday's forecast for highs in the upper-80s and winds in the 10-20 mph.
The Utah Division of Air Quality grades the entire state as "Green," or healthy for the air Utahns will breathe into late this week, but the Intermountain Allergy & Asthma web site as of Tuesday reported grass as "very high" on its pollen index with plantain, mold and oak at "high" levels.
Salt Lake City's high temperature on Wednesday was pegged at 96 degrees, up from Tuesday's 90-degree forecast; Ogden looked for 91 and 87 degrees, respectively; Provo 93 and 88; Logan 88 and 85; Wendover 92 and 89; Duchesne 89 and 84; Cedar City 87 and 92; St. George 103 and 99; and Moab 98 and 95 degrees.
Twitter: @remims —
Monday's record-setting heat:
Salt Lake City set a new mark for its overnight low of 74 degrees, beating the previous 1918 record of 67; it matched the 1918 record high for the date of 100.
Alpine at 93, Alta 76, Price 97 and the Utah Test & Training Range at 96, all beat previous daytime high temperature records.
Kanab at 98 and Spanish Fork at 95 tied record high daytime temperatures.
Alpine at 62, Bountiful 67, St. George 76, Spanish Fork 64, Tooele 75, and the Utah Test & Training Range at 70 all set record high overnight temperatures.
Alta at 49 and Provo with 64 tied their record high overnight temperatures.
Source • National Weather Service