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SALT LAKE CITY — The heat is on.
The National Weather Service on Thursday updated an excessive heat warning to include areas along the Wasatch Front, as well as the Tooele and Rush valleys and the West Desert. That's on top of parts of southwest and south-central Utah that were already included.
The alert takes effect Saturday afternoon in southern Utah and Sunday afternoon in northern Utah. Both remain in place through Monday evening. The agency also issued a heat advisory for several other parts of the state for Sunday and Monday.
What's causing the heat?
The warnings and watches are because of extreme heat that is expected as a result of a pair of high-pressure systems that will "combine forces" over the region, says KSL meteorologist Matt Johnson.
One of the systems is currently over New Mexico and Texas, while the other is just off the Pacific Coast in Southern California. Johnson said there will be some "slight cooling" in northern Utah on Thursday and Friday as the former moves west toward California because it will send in cooler winds from the north. But high temperatures will only drop about 5 degrees from the highs over the past few days.
The combined high-pressure system is forecast to bounce back over Utah this weekend, settling over the St. George area by Sunday.
"It will be blazing hot ... flirting with all-time record highs this Sunday in St. George," Johnson said. "As that high is right overhead, we're experiencing temperatures in the low 100s, potentially around 104 (degrees) in Salt Lake City."
Johnson said Monday will remain hot across the state, but not as hot, as the high-pressure system begins to move southeast back toward Arizona and New Mexico. The forecast calls for more cloud cover to return Monday with the system moving out.
The weather service advisories note that high temperatures are projected to reach as high as 115 degrees in Washington County and areas near the Glen Canyon National Recreation Area. The state's all-time record high is 117 degrees set in 1985 and matched in 2021. Both of those occurred in St. George.
It will be blazing hot ... flirting with all-time record highs this Sunday in St. George.
– KSL meteorologist Matt Johnson
High temperatures could reach up to 108 degrees in places like Loa and Torrey, as well. It may also reach up to 104 degrees between Sunday and Monday within the section of northern Utah included in the warning. Salt Lake City's record high is 107 degrees, matched multiple times over the last few years.
Overnight lows are projected to remain in the mid-to-upper 70s across the state. Johnson said the potential for storms to return increases Monday and Tuesday, which are tied to moisture "on the back side" of the high-pressure system moving out of Utah.
Full seven-day forecasts for areas across Utah can be found online at the KSL Weather Center.
Impact of hot temperatures
The National Weather Service warnings and advisories note that extreme heat will "significantly increase the potential for heat-related illnesses." This is especially true for people who are working outside or participating in outdoor activities during the heat of the day.
"Drink plenty of fluids, stay in an air-conditioned room, stay out of the sun, and check up on relatives and neighbors," the agency writes.
University of Utah Health pediatrician Shana Godfred-Cato told KSL-TV that it's important to monitor children during the hot temperatures.
"Children, particularly those under 4, do not have the same ability to adapt to overheating as adults do," she said.
Godfred-Cato advises families to avoid outdoor activities with children during the hottest time of the day. When children are outdoors, she said to make sure they are getting enough fluids and to watch for signs of overheating, like excessive sweating, red skin and tiredness.
She adds that it's critical to get children medical attention quickly if you see warning signs that their body temperature is getting too high.
"As we progress further into heat exhaustion, we start to see that kids aren't sweating anymore, they're getting even more red, that temperature is really going up, they have no desire to drink, they're kind of out of it," she explained. "Then you really want to get concerned."
Draper City Fire Marshal Don Buckley said parents need to be especially mindful about not leaving children in hot cars. He explains that it only takes 10 minutes for the temperature inside a car to get "super hot" once the driver turns the engine off.
He said parents can easily get distracted and forget to drop a child off at day care or school, which is why he advises them to make it a habit to always check the back seat every time they park.
"It can happen to anybody," he said. "Put your backpack, put your briefcase, put your cellphone, put your purse in the back seat so that when you get to where you're going, you're stopping and forcing yourself to look into the back seat."
