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SALT LAKE CITY — Summer doesn't officially end until Wednesday, but overnight temperatures at the beginning of this week are reminding Utahns that fall and winter are coming.
The National Weather Service on Monday issued multiple hard freeze warnings for many higher-elevated areas of Utah overnight. The freeze alerts are a result of cooler temperatures across the state, which are the result of a cold front that swept across Utah Sunday bringing temperatures down into near-freezing levels overnight into Monday.
KSL meteorologist Grant Weyman said highs are expected to top out in the low- to mid-60s across most of Utah Monday, which is about 15 degrees cooler than average and closer to mid-October normals. The forecast highs for St. George remain in the mid-80s Monday.
The weather service's series of hard freeze warnings cover areas where temperatures are expected to plummet into the 20s overnight into Tuesday morning.
The warnings, which cover parts of southwest Utah, the Wasatch backcountry, as well as the Bear Lake and Bear River, Cache, Sanpete and Upper Sevier River valleys, go into effect at midnight and remain in place through 9 a.m. Tuesday. The agency said temperatures are expected to reach close to or below 28 degrees overnight in the following communities:
- Beaver
- Cedar City
- Circleville, Piute County
- Ephraim
- Garden City, Rich County
- Heber City
- Huntsville, Weber County
- Koosharem, Sevier County
- Logan
- Manti
- Milford, Beaver County
- Mt. Pleasant, Sanpete County
- Park City
- Randolph, Rich County
- Smithfield, Cache County
- Woodruff, Rich County
"Frost and freeze conditions will kill crops, other sensitive vegetation and possibly damage unprotected outdoor plumbing," the agency wrote in the warnings. It advises residents in areas within the warning areas to take steps to protect "tender" plants from the cold and to also drain and wrap all outdoor pipes to prevent any possible bursts.
Meanwhile, overnight temperatures into Tuesday are expected to reach the upper 30s and low 40s across the Wasatch Front, as well as the mid-50s in St. George, according to the weather service.
The October-like temperatures aren't expected to last after Tuesday.
"By Wednesday, the first day of fall, we're going to be back up to kind of our typical temperatures for this time of the year, which is around 80," Weyman said, of the temperatures around the Wasatch Front. "(It's) nice weather, cool evenings (and) warm days, and definitely not too hot."
Full forecasts for areas across Utah can be found at the KSL Weather Center.
