SALT LAKE CITY (ABC4) — Happy Wednesday, Utah! Today’s weather will build off what we’ve had so far this week.
The best chance of wet weather will continue to be in the southern two-thirds of the state today, but some monsoonal moisture will try to sneak into northern Utah this afternoon. A few storms can’t be completely ruled out as far north as the I-80 corridor, but any wet weather up north will generally favor the high terrain.
Down south, we’ll see scattered showers and thunderstorms. While severe storms are unlikely, some strong storms capable of heavy rain and gusty winds will be possible.
For most of central and southern Utah, there’s a marginal risk of excessive rainfall. This means there’s a low-risk storm that will be capable of producing heavy rain that may result in flash flooding.
Like yesterday, the risk of flash flooding will exist across all southern Utah recreational areas and across the Mighty 5 as well. On days where flash flooding is probable, like today, it’s best to avoid backcountry hikes; especially ones that involve slot canyons, dry washes, and burn scars.
Outside of any wet weather, skies in southern Utah today will be partly to mostly cloudy, while northern Utah will check in with mostly sunny to partly cloudy skies. Daytime highs will range in the 80s and 90s for most across the state.
While that’s seasonal for southern Utah, highs in northern Utah will be roughly 5 degrees above average. Along the Wasatch Front, we’ll see highs mainly in the mid-90s as Salt Lake City hits 97 degrees. By tonight, storms will begin to fade as lows drop to near what we had last night.
On Thursday, the same overall setup of high pressure to the east of us and a low-pressure system to the southwest that doesn’t move much along the coast of California, allowing for moisture to move continually northward thanks to an increased southerly flow.
This low-pressure system will eventually move to the east later in the week due to two other systems: a low-pressure area developing over British Columbia and a tropical system (what is now invested EP90) moving north along the Baja California region.
Depending on the eventual track of what becomes of this tropical system, it could enhance our surge of monsoon moisture. Given all the variables, we’ll have to wait and see how the models play out in the coming days to know just how much moisture we could receive.
At this point, though, it looks like we’ll see some pretty active weather from the weekend into early next week, with a good chance of widespread showers and thunderstorms across the Beehive State.
Not only will we see active skies, but temperatures are also set to see an impressive drop into the weekend. Tomorrow will likely be the hottest day of the week, with temperatures slightly warmer than today, while southern Utah stays consistent from this week.
By Friday, temperatures will begin to ease down, with that trend expected to continue into the weekend.
By Sunday, we could see highs fall to the mid-80s for both Salt Lake and St. George, which would be more than 10 degrees below average in St. George.
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