Gusty winds and continued fire threat for Wednesday

Added: 2026-05-27

[00:00:00]Okay, earlier tonight in the infamous Donner Pass, some late May snow fell onto drivers there.

[00:00:06]>> The California Department of Transportation posted this footage telling drivers to slow down in the wet weather.

[00:00:13]Not something you hear every May, is it?

[00:00:15]>> no, it's not. But this time of year right now, we've got some critical fire danger to talk about.

[00:00:20]>> Yeah, we do. We have red flag warnings that are in effect. Gusty winds, low relative humidity is creating the perfect combination for wildfires to start. We'll take a look at some of those red flag warnings and fire weather watches that are also in effect for tomorrow into Thursday. These go in effect from 12:00 p.m. tomorrow until 9:00 p.m. Thursday. This includes areas like the San Rafael Swell, Grand Staircase, Eastern Uinta Basin, the Book Cliffs. We'll see those southerly winds of 10 to 25 miles an hour, gusts of up to 40 miles an hour with those low relative humidities as low as 8 to 13%.

[00:00:51]That'll create the perfect combination, of course, for wildfires to start, especially in any of these areas, and they can spread quickly. So, we take a look at that time lapse from our Black Desert Sky Cam outside of the Black Desert Resort. You'll kind of see this camera is kind of shaking a little bit.

[00:01:04]We had some gusty winds here and even some blowing dust as we had those wind advisories that are still in effect until midnight tonight. But we'll see those winds gusting anywhere from 25 to 35 miles an hour across much of our Utah valleys. As we look at those current wind gusts, well, the wind future wind gusts, we'll be seeing this stubborn system that's continuing to bring in those southerly winds. And we'll see those winds gusting anywhere from, of course, 25 to 35 miles an hour. They do subside into the overnight hours before they crank back up going into Thursday and for Friday as well. And then those winds will begin to subside as we go into Saturday and for Sunday as the system starts to move its way northward and we start to get high pressure building in going into early next week.

[00:01:44]Of course, we'll see some rain showers even going into Saturday and for Sunday as the system kind of spinning off the Great Basin region into Nevada as it starts to move its way northward. Well, it'll bring in those chances for some rain showers going into Friday afternoon into Saturday night and then into Saturday as well. We'll see those chances for rain showers and a few thunderstorms into the evening hours across much mainly northern Utah is where we'll see the bulk of that precipitation. Conditions will start to clear out into portions of southern Utah. Taking a look at your upper level future cast. Of course, we see that stubborn system that is sitting over the Great Basin region bringing in rain showers into California and Nevada, but for us it's bringing in those gusty southern winds and that critical to near critical fire weather conditions, but as it starts to move its way to the north and it'll bring in those chances for showers and thunderstorms into Friday afternoon for Saturday and through Saturday night. Continues its trek northward into Canada and then we're starting to talk about high pressure that'll start building over the Great Basin and Southwest United States and bringing a return for some hot temperatures. You see temperatures returning to the upper 80s, low 90s across northern Utah, even flirting with triple digits into southern Utah. As we take a look at regional forecast for tomorrow though, we'll still see those warmer conditions courtesy of that southerly flow. Looking at a high of 86 into Salt Lake, 86 for Provo, 83 into St. George, 90 for Moab, 82 into Vernal with a mix of clouds and sun. Of course, those gusty winds. As we look at your 7-day forecast looking ahead for St. George, we'll be seeing temperatures holding steady into the low 80s. Cooling off though into Friday with a high of only 79 degrees, but of course, seeing gusty winds for Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday with that elevated fire danger and then conditions dry out. We talk lots of sunshine into the weekend for early next week. Looking at a high of 96 by next Monday, 99 flirting with 100 degrees by next Tuesday. And then as we look at the Wasatch Front, of course, seeing those temperatures still into the 80s for Wednesday and Thursday with gusty southerly winds and then we start to see those rain showers into Friday afternoon for Saturday and potential into Sunday. Temperatures backing off into the 70s for the weekend before things warm back up as we go into Monday and for Tuesday.