FXUS65 KSLC 211810

AFDSLC



Area Forecast Discussion

National Weather Service Salt Lake City UT

1210 PM MDT Sat Mar 21 2026



.KEY MESSAGES...



- High pressure will continue to bring historically warm weather

  for March today.



- A dry cold front will bring a brief cooling trend Sunday, though

  daytime highs will remain 10 to 20 degrees above normal.

  

- Near record temperatures will return by Tuesday into Wednesday.



&&



.DISCUSSION...Record warmth continues as a historically strong

ridge remains in place. High temperatures today may be kept down a

couple of degrees, compared to prior forecasts, given the incoming

high clouds along with a lake breeze that will keep areas near the

south end of the GSL a couple of degrees cooler than areas further

away from the lake. Regardless, temperatures will be in the upper

70s to low 80s with low 90s across southern Utah. 



A dry front will move through overnight resulting in Sunday high 

temperatures dropping ~10 degrees across northern Utah with less

of a drop across southern Utah. However, this still means

temperatures 10-20 degrees above normals for this time of year.

The cooler temperatures will be short-lived as heights begin to

build again across the region. By Tuesday, there is a 70% chance

that temperatures will return to the low 80s at KSLC with an even

higher probability of 80 on Wednesday (80% chance). This

probability falls back to 25% chance on Thursday as the ridge

starts to flatten again with more troughing in the PNW. 



There still remains no precipitation in the forecast for the next

7 days, but guidance continues to hint at a storm by the end of 

the month with ~50% of ensemble members introducing precipitation

by then.  



&&



.AVIATION...KSLC...Northwesterly winds will persist through the 

afternoon through at least 02z; after 02z, there is some uncertainty 

in the wind direction. Speeds will likely stay below 7kts, with 

potential for winds to go southeasterly at times between 02-16z. VFR 

conditions will prevail with FEW-SCT high clouds.  



.REST OF UTAH AND SOUTHWEST WYOMING...Some sites will experience 

breezy west-southwesterly winds this afternoon up to 20-25kts, 

particularly across southern Utah and higher terrain including near 

KEVW. Otherwise, winds will be largely light overnight, starting to 

favor a northwesterly direction overnight and especially Sunday 

morning as a weak front moves through the area. VFR conditions will 

prevail with FEW-SCT high clouds.



&&



.SLC WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...

UT...None.

WY...Red Flag Warning until 9 PM MDT this evening for WYZ277.



&&



$$



PUBLIC...Mahan

AVIATION...Cunningham



For more information from NOAA's National Weather Service visit...

http://weather.gov/saltlakecity