Joana Abeel holds her daughter, Penelope Abeel, at the Draper City Splash Pad during a heat wave in Draper on Wednesday, July 20. July was the hottest month on record for Salt Lake City. (Kristin Murphy, Deseret News)
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SALT LAKE CITY — July was the hottest month on record for Utah’s capital city.
If that sentence sounds familiar, it’s because it’s the second-straight year that July has topped the temperature record books.
Last month’s average temperature was 87.3 degrees, besting the previous record of 85.7 degrees set in July 2021, according to National Weather Service data. The agency’s data dates back to 1874.
The high temperature reached at least 90 degrees every day during the month and a record 18 100-degree days helped boost the average temperature this July, also resulting in a record-breaking average maximum temperature of 99.7 degrees. The previous record was 98.4 degrees, set last July.
The average minimum temperature — or the coolest it got — last month was 74.9 degrees, breaking last year’s minimum average record of 73.1 degrees. July 11 (68 degrees) was the only day that an overnight low dropped below 70 degrees.
July is Salt Lake City’s hottest month on average, with a normal of 81.1 degrees, according to data from 1991 through 2020. Statewide climate data is expected to be released later this month, though, available weather service information shows the average temperatures across a handful of Utah communities were above-normal this past month.
- Kanab: 79.7 degrees (2.3 degrees above normal)
- Logan (KVNU station): 74.4 degrees (2.3 degrees above normal)
- Provo: 82 degrees (3.2 degrees above normal)
- St George: 89.7 degrees (2.9 degrees above normal)
- tools: 83.2 (5.4 degrees above normal)
Other Salt Lake records in reach?
With its 18th 100-degree day on Sunday, high temperatures reached 100 degrees for the 21st time this year, tying 1960, 1994 and 2021 with the most triple-digit temperature days in a year in city history. High temperatures are expected to be relatively close to 100 degrees on Monday, meaning the record could be broken this week.
It’s possible that it may come sometime in the next six weeks, too, because the latest occurring 100-degree day on record is Sept. 9, which was set in 1979.
Last month also joins July 1960 and August 1967 as the only other 31-day months where the high temperature reached at least 90 degrees every day. Following Sunday, the temperature in Salt Lake City has reached at least 90 degrees for 40 consecutive days — tied with July 11 to Aug. 19, 2000, as the second-longest streak of its kind on record.
The record for 90-plus days is 50 consecutive days, which happened July 18 to Sept. 5 in 1967. That said, monsoonal moisture is expected to push through the Salt Lake Valley as the week continues, which could keep high temperatures in the upper 80s if it doesn’t reach the low 90s on Tuesday.
“We’ll see those thunderstorms popping up (Monday) afternoon. … We’ll see it in the mountains first,” said KSL meteorologist Kristin Van Dyke. “There’s a chance we can see a storm move past the Wasatch Front (in the afternoon) but by (Monday) night,we’re going to have those storms developing and across northern Utah. It could be a wet night ahead … and then Tuesday, we’ll start with showers and storms.”
Some relief in August?
August could end up being a bit of a cooldown for Utah, at least in terms of the averages and compared to what the past month was like.
A normal August in Salt Lake City is an average of 79.1 degrees with 0.58 inches of precipitation, according to weather service records.
The National Weather Center’s Climate Prediction Center does project a 33% to 50% chance for above-average temperatures across the Wasatch Front and northern Utah in August, but it also projects a 33% to 50% chance for above-average precipitation all across Utah in Aug.
Although it’s difficult to predict rain totals from monsoonal patterns, clouds along with moisture are often associated with cooler temperatures. For instance, temperatures at Capitol Reef National Park were slightly below normal this July, as it received at least a trace of rain on 16 of the month’s 31 days.
With a stronger chance for precipitation in southeast Utah, the Climate Prediction Center actually projects a 33% to 40% chance for below-normal temperatures this August. The rest of the state is listed in “equal chances,” meaning their models don’t indicate if it’s leaning toward a hotter or cooler August.
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Carter Williams is an award-winning reporter who covers general news, outdoors, history and sports for KSL.com. He previously worked for the Deseret News. He is a Utah transplant by the way of Rochester, New York.
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