UDOT crews work their way up the side of Bald Mountain Pass as they try to clear the high-altitude snow that still blocks U-150, the popular Mirror Lake Highway. But you wouldn't know there was any snow anywhere from the look and feel of things down in the Salt Lake Valley, where an unseasonable heat wave is expected to continue through the weekend and into next week. Meantime, river watchers expect local canyon creeks to crest well inside their banks within the next day or two as this spring's snowmelt slows down. Brent Taylor, senior hydrologist for the Colorado Basin River Forecasting Center in Salt Lake City, calls this year's thaw an "orderly meltdown" that occurred despite the fact that northern Utah had 120 percent more water than usual. Southern Utah, by comparison, received only 60 percent of its normal precipitation and springtime runoff. Hot, sunny weather will persist at least through midweek, weather forecasters say. So if you want a cooler spot, you have to look to the mountains. But UDOT spokeswoman Andrea Packer reminds Utahns that access is still limited to some getaways. Three of eight high-mountain roads UDOT closes in winter are still unopened. See story on A2.
