Salt Lake City matches another high-temperature record

SALT LAKE CITY \u2014 Utah's capital city has already broken its all-time hottest maximum temperature this month, reaching a blistering 109 degrees on July 13, but it just missed setting another record as the latest heat dome sets over the state.Salt Lake City's official thermometer fell to 82 degrees just before 10:30 p.m. on Monday, matching the city's highest minimum low temperature on record. The record was first set on July 13, 2021, and previously matched on July 23, 2023.The city's overnight low early Monday was only 84 degrees, putting it on track to break the record dating back to when the National Weather Service began tracking its weather data in 1874.A few factors led to overnight conditions ending up abnormally warm, said Sam Webber, a meteorologist for the National Weather Service.Salt Lake City reached a maximum high temperature of 104 degrees on Sunday, ending up just 3 degrees shy of a daily record set in 1960, which was also the previous all-time hottest temperature ever recorded. That heated the ground before clouds formed Sunday night, trapping the heat in the valley, he explained."That certainly helped us stay on the warmer side," he said. "Anytime you have cloud cover overnight, it's going to help trap a lot of that radiant heat that's coming off the Earth, which would otherwise just radiate out into space."Temperatures at the official Salt Lake City site near the airport didn't break away from 90 degrees until after 4 a.m. on Monday, with a brief dip to 84 degrees shortly before 7 a.m., as the clouds finally began to break apart. Temperatures climbed back up shortly after that, though, as the sun rose.Monday's high temperature ended up being 100 degrees, with a short dip to 86 degrees in the afternoon after a small storm developed. The temperature ultimately jumped between 82 and 84 during the final hour of the day, after falling to the previous record.The tied record plays into a trend that's emerged with urbanization, Webber said. Research has long pointed to asphalt, concrete and other development holding more daytime heat longer than a natural landscape. That, combined with hotter daytime temperatures partly from stronger high-pressure systems, has helped increase minimum temperatures.It's not just a Salt Lake City issue. Many parts of the world have had higher low temperatures, leading to hotter average temperatures.Eleven out of Utah's 13 warmest minimum temperature years have occurred since 2000, and this year's