Record heat sends Utah's soil moisture falling way below normal

SALT LAKE CITY -- October officially kicks off the water season for the year, and with record-breaking temperatures, it’s not starting out promising. According to KSL meteorologist Matt Johnson, October already hit an all-time record high of 92 degrees. Utah has seen seven days in the month that have been 80-plus degrees, and five more days are expected, according to the forecast. That’s 12 days of 80-plus degrees, which would also break an all-time record high of 10 days above 80. According to the drought coordinator of the Utah Division of Water Resources, Laura Haskell, the soil moisture is at about 30 percent and falling quickly. Haskell said typically at this time of year it's at about 38 percent and rising. “[Soil moisture] got pretty high up with the August monsoons that we had and it just plummeted. Unfortunately, we are quite a bit below where we would typically be this time of year, and we are running out of time to catch up before we hit that winter snowpack and the fall freeze. Because whatever our soil moisture is at when it freezes, that’s what we are stuck at,” Haskell told KSL TV. The other concern with the hot, dry conditions is an increase in fire danger. Over the weekend, fighters saw the Yellow Lake Fire in the Wasatch back just explode. “If you couple [the heat] with a wind event and an ignition source, you would really have a forest that would burn as if it was July or August,” said Brian Trick, public information officer of the Yellow Lake Fire. “We definitely have an elevated risk for fire this time of year. It’s safe to say our fire danger is above average this time of year.” But Haskell said the silver lining is that our reservoirs are 20 percent above normal going into this winter season.

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