Real Cooling Is Coming

The start of June has, in my view, sucked meteorologically.

High temperatures at the Salt Lake City Airport for the first six days of the month were 88, 91, 97, 100, 97, and 92.  

This is off the charts hot.  The average maximum temperature for the 6-day period was 94.2˚F, 3.2˚F warmer than that of any prior year on record.  In fact, there are only two other such periods with an average maximum temparature above 90: 2016 (90.5˚F) and 2020 (91.0˚F).  

Source: http://xmacis.rcc-acis.org/

Although there were a few thunderstorms around on Saturday, the airport received only a trace, so they haven't had measurable rain yet this month either.  With warmth continuing and wind on the rise, the National Weather Service has issued a red flag warning through late Wednesday for the Salt Lake Valley as well as much of the state of Utah.

Source: NWS, 2:40 PM MDT 7 June 2021

The good news is that we should see significant cooling on Thursday.  The GFS forecast valid 2100 UTC (1500 MDT) Thursday shows a surface cold-front over central Utah with northwest Utah in the...dare I say it...cooler post-frontal westerly to northwesterly flow.  

The 700-mb temperature forecast is around 0˚C over the Salt Lake Valley, which would equate to surface temperatures in the...wait for it...60s Thursday afternoon.  

Looking forward to it.