Salt Lake City sets an October temperature record. When will it feel like fall again?
by Carter Williams, KSL.com · KSL.comEstimated read time: 2-3 minutes
SALT LAKE CITY — It might be fall, but summer is still clinging on in Utah.
The high temperature at Salt Lake City International Airport reached 92 degrees on Friday, snapping a daily record of 86 degrees set all the way back on Oct. 4, 1963. It's also the first time the temperature surpassed 90 degrees within Utah's capital city at any point in October since the National Weather Service began tracking the city's weather data in 1874.
Many other daily record temperatures across Utah were forecast to be broken on Friday.
It all has to do with a high-pressure setup over the Four Corners region, minimizing cloud cover and allowing the state to heat up, said KSL meteorologist Devan Masciulli. Southwest winds are also blowing warmer air into Utah.
The result is a high temperature similar to temperatures Salt Lake City and the Wasatch Front residents usually experience in mid-to-late August. Per the weather service, the normal maximum temperature for Oct. 4 in Salt Lake City is 71 degrees.
The National Weather Service also issued a series of red flag warnings across Utah, where the warmth, low relative humidity and wind gusts combine to make "critical fire weather conditions." It expired at 9 p.m. Friday.
A small cold front is expected to roll through the state this weekend, but it won't change the forecast much. It's only expected to drop high temperatures in Salt Lake City down into the low 80s on Saturday and Sunday, which is still about 10 degrees above normal.
Fans of fall cooldowns will have to wait a little bit longer, too. Masciulli said that trend will continue into next week, as high temperatures across the Wasatch Front will remain in the low-to-mid 80s.
"Just adding a few clouds. Really, that's our only change next week," she said.
The National Weather Service Climate Prediction Center lists most of Utah as having over a 70% probability of above-normal temperatures the week after. It lists a 50% or lower probability after Oct. 18, so normal fall temperatures may not return to Utah until the second half of October at the earliest.
Full seven-day forecasts for areas across Utah can be found online, at the KSL Weather Center.
Related topics
Utah weatherUtahSalt Lake CountyOutdoors
Carter Williams
Carter Williams is an award-winning reporter for KSL.com. He covers Salt Lake City news, as well as statewide transportation issues, outdoors, environment and weather. Carter has worked in Utah news for over a decade and is a graduate of Southern Utah University.