Hot enough for you? Looking back at Utah’s hottest recorded temperatures

Hot enough for you? Looking back at Utah’s hottest recorded temperatures

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SALT LAKE CITY — Summer is already off to a hot start with temperatures across Utah well above 90 degrees and even nearing 110 degrees in southern Utah.

It may seem hot, but it’s not nearly as bad as the Utah record book. Utah’s highest recorded temperature in state history was on July 5, 1985, when St. George reached a blistering 117 degrees, according to the National Weather Service.

That was not only the hottest day ever recorded, it came in a three-day stretch of the hottest days ever recorded in state history. On July 4 and July 6 that year, St. George reached 115 degrees.

Utah’s hottest days ever recorded also learn toward St. George, with temperatures reaching 115 degrees on June 26, 1970, July 16, 1925, and July 29, 1898, also.

At a higher altitude, Salt Lake City has been spared such heat.

The hottest temperature recorded in Salt Lake City came on July 13, 2002, when the valley reached a blistering 107 degrees. That same day, the Bountiful bench, where temperatures are recorded in the area between Utah’s valleys and mountains, reached an all-time high at 100 degrees.

Salt Lake City also reached 107 degrees on July 26, 1960.

The highest recorded in the mountains was 92 degrees at Alta on July 21, 1945.

Salt Lake City’s highest recorded temperatures:

— 107 degrees, July 13, 2002/July 26, 1960

— 106 degrees, July 29, 1995/Aug. 4, 1994/July 28, 1934/July 21, 1931

— 105 degrees, June 29, 2013/June 28, 2013/July 15, 2007/July 15, 2003

Other interesting Utah heat features: Salt Lake’s record of consecutive days of 100 degrees or more is 10 days from July 15 to July 24 in 2003. The record for 95 degrees or more is 20, set twice in 1960 and again in 1978.

In 1967, Salt Lake City reached 90 degrees an astounding 50 straight days from July 18 to Sept. 5 that year.

When temperatures start reaching triple digits, one major concern is the threat of heat stroke.

The Mayo Clinic suggests to remain hydrated, avoid strenuous activity, protect against sunburn, wearing loose-fitting and lightweight clothing, take precautions with some medications and never leave anyone in a parked car as ways to avoid heat stroke.

Air conditioning has helped Utahns beat the heat over the years, but in the decades before air conditioning became household fixtures, Utahns cooled down at its lakes, such as the Great Salt Lake, as evidenced by these archive photos from the early 1900s.

People are swimming in the water of the Great Salt Lake during a sunset in a photo dated Aug. 12, 1906. (Photo: Utah Historical Society)
People are swimming in the water of the Great Salt Lake during a sunset in a photo dated Aug. 12, 1906. (Photo: Utah Historical Society)
Two people standing in the shallow water in front of the main Saltair building in a photo taken sometime around 1910. (Photo: Utah Historical Society)
Two people standing in the shallow water in front of the main Saltair building in a photo taken sometime around 1910. (Photo: Utah Historical Society)
People swimming in the Great Salt Lake with Antelope Island in the background in a photo taken sometime around 1910. (Photo: Utah Historical Society)
People swimming in the Great Salt Lake with Antelope Island in the background in a photo taken sometime around 1910. (Photo: Utah Historical Society)

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Carter Williams

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