Record heat yields to teary skies

After five Utah locations soared to record-high temperatures Sunday, the state has cooled down to below normal as a storm system will deliver rain to much of Utah on Monday and Tuesday.

Salt Lake City International Airport reached 81 degrees Sunday, only three degrees below the record and 18 degrees above normal.

Tooele's 81 degrees Sunday was a record, however, breaking the previous record of 80 degrees, set Oct. 18, 2003.

Delta reached a record 85 degrees; Alpine tied its record for the day at 77 degrees; Hanksville also tied its record at 85 degrees; and the 71 degrees at the Bryce Canyon airport eclipsed the record by a degree.

Delta and Bryce Canyon in particular have been places of vast temperature extremes this October. Delta set an all-time overnight low-temperature record of 22 degrees on Oct. 9, while Bryce sank to a record low of 16 degrees that day. Then, nine days later, both weather stations set high-temperature records.

Monday's high in Sat Lake City will reach the upper 60s, according to the Salt Lake office of the National Weather Service. The chance of rain is 60 percent.

Rain is likely overnight, with a low temperature of 48 degrees. Tuesday will feature mostly cloudy skies, a 50 percent chance of moisture and a daytime high of 55 degrees, about eight degrees below normal.

Tuesday night's low will dip to 44 degrees, and Wednesday should be mostly sunny, with a high around 58 degrees. Temperatures are expected to warm to the low 60s by Friday.

Because Oct. 20 is the latest-ever day for a high-temperature reading of 80 degrees or above in Salt Lake City, northern Utah has likely had its last day with temperatures 80 degrees or warmer until next spring.

At 0.47 inches of rain, Salt Lake City had received just over half its average moisture for the month of October before the latest storm.

The National Weather Service's long-term outlook for northern Utah predicts above normal temperatures through next February. For expected moisture, it is anyone's guess. The weather service gives the top half of Utah equal chances for having normal, below normal or above normal precipitation during the next four months.

e-mail: lynn@desnews.com