183
FXUS65 KSLC 171732
AFDSLC
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SALT LAKE CITY UT
1132 AM MDT TUE MAR 17 2026
KEY MESSAGES
- HIGH PRESSURE WILL BRING HISTORICALLY WARM WEATHER FOR MARCH
BEGINNING WEDNESDAY, AND CONTINUING THROUGH SATURDAY. BY
THURSDAY, TEMPERATURES WILL BE CHALLENGING MONTHLY MAXIMUM
TEMPERATURE RECORDS AS THEY APPROACH 30F ABOVE SEASONAL NORMALS.
- A DRY COLD FRONT WILL BRING A COOLING TREND SUNDAY, HOWEVER
DAYTIME HIGHS WILL REMAIN 10 TO 15 DEGREES ABOVE NORMAL.
DISCUSSION
CONFIDENCE REMAINS VERY HIGH IN THE OVERALL FORECAST
THROUGH THE REMAINDER OF THE WEEK, AS A SEASONALLY ANOMALOUS MID
LEVEL RIDGE BUILDS INTO THE REGION RESULTING IN A HISTORIC HEAT
WAVE FOR LATE MARCH.
AS THIS RIDGE BUILDS INLAND, MAX TEMPERATURES WILL TREND ~10F
WARMER TODAY, AND ANOTHER 6-8F WARMER WEDNESDAY (3-4F WARMER
ACROSS LOWER SOUTHERN UTAH DESERTS). FORECAST TEMPERATURES IN THE
MID TO UPPER 70S ACROSS NORTHERN VALLEYS WEDNESDAY, AND LOW-MID
80S ACROSS SOUTHERN VALLEYS WEDNESDAY (LOW 90S IN LOWER WASHINGTON
COUNTY) WILL SET DAILY RECORDS AND BEGIN TO CHALLENGE MONTHLY
RECORDS FOR MARCH (81 SALT LAKE CITY, 81 FOR CEDAR CITY, AND 91
IN ST GEORGE). TEMPERATURES TREND A LITTLE WARMER THURSDAY AND
FRIDAY, AS 700MB TEMPERATURES APPROACH 10C ACROSS NORTHERN UTAH,
AND 13C ACROSS SOUTHERN UTAH.
IN TERMS OF MONTHLY TEMPERATURE RECORDS, USING NBM 5.0
PROBABILITIES...
* KSLC (80 - 2010): THERE IS A 10% CHANCE THIS MONTHLY RECORD IS
REACHED WEDNESDAY, 63% THURSDAY, AND A 95% CHANCE FRIDAY AS THE
25TH-75TH PERCENTILE FOR MAX TEMPERATURE INCREASES TO 82-85.
* CEDAR CITY (81 - 2004), THERE IS A 75% CHANCE THIS MONTHLY
RECORD IS REACHED WEDNESDAY, AND A NEAR 100% CHANCE THURSDAY
(25TH-75TH PERCENTILE 84-88).
* ST GEORGE (91): THERE IS A 25% CHANCE THIS RECORD IS REACHED
WEDNESDAY, AND A 90% CHANCE THURSDAY, INCREASING TO NEAR 100% ON
FRIDAY (25TH-75TH PERCENTILE 94-96).
A DRY COLD FRONT WILL PUSH THROUGH THE AREA LATE SATURDAY INTO
SUNDAY, RESULTING IN A COOLING TREND OF ROUGHLY 10F. DESPITE THIS,
DAYTIME HIGHS WILL REMAIN 10-15 DEGREES ABOVE CLIMO SUNDAY BEFORE
A SLIGHT WARMING TREND EARLY NEXT WEEK.
AVIATION...KSLC
A STRENGTHENING RIDGE WILL CONTINUE TO BUILD
OVER THE REGION, MAINTAINING CLEAR TO MOSTLY CLEAR SKIES AND VFR
CONDITIONS. WINDS WILL TEND TO BE LIGHT (GENERALLY LESS THAN 10
KTS), WITH SE SHIFT ~01-03Z WED, AND BACK NW ~18-21Z WED.
REST OF UTAH AND SOUTHWEST WYOMING
HIGH PRESSURE TO REMAIN THE
DOMINANT INFLUENCE AT AREA TERMINALS. WITH THE EXCEPTION OF HIGHER
ELEVATION EXPOSED TERMINALS (SUCH AS EVW), MOST AREA TERMINALS WILL
SEE MODEST WIND MAGNITUDES GENERALLY BELOW 10 KTS, ALONG WITH
DIURNALLY NORMAL DIRECTIONAL SHIFTS. VFR CONDITIONS WILL HOLD WITH
CLEAR TO MOSTLY CLEAR SKIES.
SLC WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES
UT...NONE.
WY...NONE.
PUBLIC...SEAMAN
AVIATION...WARTHEN
FOR MORE INFORMATION FROM NOAA'S NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE VISIT...
HTTP://WEATHER.GOV/SALTLAKECITY
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