With windows down, jackets off and convertibles topless, Salt Lake residents welcomed Friday's spring-like weather.
The high of 63 degrees broke Salt Lake City's record as the warmest January day ever measured, said KSL meteorologist Mark Eubank. Usually January weather is in the high 30s, while Friday's 63-degree weather would be typical for April 23.
"I think we'll look back and say 2003 was the year without a winter," Eubank said. "I am very impressed. I have never seen anything like this in Salt Lake City."
Also atypical was January's snowfall. It has been the least-snowy January since 1885 when snow was first measured, said Eubank. This year is like a crescendo, he said, coming when Utah is already five years into abnormally dry weather.
But Eubank said he's not alarmed.
"I'm not alarmed yet," he said. "I'm worried. I'm concerned, but not alarmed."
Neither were some other Utahns as they enjoyed the springtime weather.
"If it's this good tomorrow, I'm going to be outside," said Nick Haws, a Pleasant Grove resident who works at Questar.
"It was just a lovely day," said Susan Naud, an employee at the University of Utah School of Medicine. "I stayed outside longer during lunch and enjoyed it."
"My kids came in and asked for Popsicles," said Suzee Anderson.
The temporary lapse into spring won't carry into February.
According to an alert from the National Weather Service, cold winter weather and strong shifting winds will be back tonight with a cold front that will first hit northwest Utah and slowly move southeast. The cold weather will continue through next week.
Snowfall in the mountains will also accompany the cold.
Significant snowfall is likely for all mountain areas in Utah. Snow will develop over the northern mountains tonight through Sunday morning and over the southern mountains with the heaviest snow during the day Sunday. The general accumulations by late Sunday will be in the 8- to 16-inch range for the higher mountains, according to the National Weather Service.
E-mail: jthompson@desnews.com