This week you can fry eggs on the sidewalks from Brigham City to Escalante — if you want to create the biggest, stickiest mess in walkway history.
May began normally enough. But then, suddenly, the month shifted gears, locking Utah in a searing heat wave.
"It's as if May has been replaced with June," said Mark Eubank, KSL chief meteorologist.
According to the National Weather Service, 75 degrees is the "normal" daily high temperature for late May in Salt Lake City.
But on Friday, the Weather Service indicates Salt Lake City's high soared to 92 degrees; on Saturday it was 93; Sunday, 90; Monday, 91. On Tuesday the high was relatively mild, 88 — still, that's the kind of sizzle one would expect in late June.
Monday's scorcher set a record in Escalante, where the temperature reached 92 degrees, compared with the old high of 90. Tying previous records for the date were Brigham City, 90; Coalville, 87; Delta, 95; Nephi, 89; Pleasant Grove, 89; and Price, 87. In all cases, the previous records were set in 2001.
"For the last three years — 2003, 2002, 2001 — we've had an exceptional heat wave in the last week in May," said Eubank. "I'm not sure why. It's almost like we skipped ahead to June."
The hottest temperature ever recorded in Utah's capital during May was 96 degrees, tallied on May 30, 2002, he said.
On Wednesday, the thermostat will be turned back up, with the high predicted to reach 95. The next day the thermometer should reach 93, to be followed by somewhat cooler weather.
Eubank thinks this month might turn out to have more days above 90 degrees than any other May in Salt Lake City's record books.
A strong high pressure system above Utah has locked in the hot weather. Asked if he believes the heating is related to a climate change, Eubank said, "I think it's just related to our drought."
The unusually dry weather, combined with blistering temperatures, could make the drought even worse for farmers and ranchers.
Utahns won't know for another week, Eubank said, but the state may have had its spring rains already and may have begun "our summer heat season."
E-mail: bau@desnews.com