Sizzling temperatures making 2021 one for the record books
In numerous ways, the extreme heat and drought that hit the western United States this summer are impacting life in Utah.
The effects include dying crops, heat exhaustion, roads buckling, and fish in danger of dying in hot waterbodies.
In addition, the sizzling temperatures have set or tied weather records this year.
The thermometer at Salt Lake City International Airport climbed to 107 degrees on June 15, tying the record for highest temperature recorded in the city in 147 years of records. The other days were in July 2002 and July 1960.
Another three-way tie was set this year with the 21 days of highs reaching 100 degrees or more, which equals the record set in 1994 and 1960.
And July 2021, with an average mean temperature of 85.7 degrees, was the hottest month ever in Salt Lake City.
Now, even more records could be broken.
Meteorologist Christine Kruse of the National Weather Service said the latest 100-degree day recorded at the Salt Lake City airport was Sept. 8, 1979, which means the capital city potentially could beat the triple-digit record of 21.
In addition, June through August 2021 could be Salt Lake City’s hottest summer, which would beat the record set in 2017 with an average temperature of 80.9 degrees. As of the end of last week, with just a few days left in the month, the city’s average was 81.2 degrees, Kruse said.
Whatever happens, it’s unlikely that average temperatures will start dropping.
“The consistent message that we’re seeing with our climate models is that the temperatures will increase across the state of Utah,” Kruse said.
“The consistent message that we’re seeing with our climate models is that the temperatures will increase across the state of Utah.”
Meteorologist Christine Kruse
Trying to keep cool
Rocky Mountain Power spokesman David Eskelsen said overall electricity use is up over the previous year but there’s no way to determine how much of that is due to the heat or to natural growth with the addition of new customers. The utility company currently has about 999,000 customers in Utah and is a business unit of PacifiCorp, which serves a total of approximately 2 million customers in six western states.
“Every year, customer usage changes in both directions,” Eskelsen said. “A residential customer might install a second freezer in which case their usage might go up. They also might install some energy-efficient measures in which case their usage would go down. There’s no way to isolate from that behavior the effect of heat specifically other than saying that each summer during the hottest days of the year electricity use is also the highest of the year. Our system is very sensitive to heat mostly because of air conditioning.”
He added that the customer demand peak typically occurs during repeated days of triple-digit temperatures and nighttime lows that do not drop below 70 degrees.
Fighting and preventing fire
“The extreme heat we’re seeing in the West is not only a risk amplifier for wildfires, it’s a threat in and of itself.”
President Joe Biden
Jason Curry, interim deputy director of the Utah Division of Forestry, Fire and State Lands, said intense heat makes it harder to fight a fire.
“There are a number of factors that will influence fire behavior, starting with wind, the relative humidity in the air, and then the temperature,” Curry said. “All three of those can play a role in fire behavior. When we have record heat, 100-degree days, that definitely impacts fire behavior.”
In addition, drought brings drier fuel to a fire and more extreme fire behavior, he said.
June was a busy month for the division but fire prevention work showed results in July and August, Curry said. The number of human-caused fires was lower those two months than the same period in every other year, he said, and firefighting costs were lower as well.
In a Wildfire Wednesday talk posted Aug. 25 on YouTube, division prevention specialist Kayli Yardley said there had been 30 wildfires in Utah the previous week. Year-to-date, there were 956 total wildfire starts in the state, 495 of which were human-caused, and 61,196 acres burned.
The number of fires is lower than what it was at the same time last year. In 2020, there had been 1,120 wildfire starts then, 854 of them caused by people.
For updates about wildfires and fire restrictions in Utah, visit utahfireinfo.gov.
The drought has increased the number of fires throughout the West and President Joe Biden has pledged federal help to prepare for and prevent the blazes.
The president held a video conference on June 30 with Gov. Spencer Cox and other Western governors and said he will boost firefighter pay; extend the hiring of temporary firefighters to ensure an effective response throughout the fire season; expand the permanent firefighting workforce; and train and equip military personnel to conduct firefighting operations.
In addition, Biden increased the federal aviation capacity by up to 34 air tankers and more than 200 helicopters to ensure they are available to respond quickly when needed.
In his remarks during the conference, the president said that “the extreme heat we’re seeing in the West is not only a risk amplifier for wildfires, it’s a threat in and of itself.”
“People are hurting,” Biden said. “It’s more dangerous for kids to play outside. Roads are buckling under the heat. We need people to check on their neighbors, especially seniors who may need a helping hand; outdoor laborers, like our farm and construction workers who are going to need frequent water breaks and shade.”
Heat exhaustion sets in
Dr. Andrew Dorais, an Intermountain Healthcare emergency medicine physician, said when the temperature hits 100 degrees, more people suffering from heat exhaustion start showing up at the hospital.
“What we see more of is elderly patients that come in with confusion or weakness, maybe vomiting,” Dorais said. “It’s not really clear why they presented with those symptoms. But after a little bit more history taking or maybe contacting the family or after the patient’s been in the ER getting treatment for a period of time, it becomes clear that their air conditioning is broken or they haven’t turned their air conditioning on and they’ve been sitting in 100-degree all day long.”
Patients suffering from heat exhaustion need time to cool off and get hydrated, he said. After that, most of them perk up and return to their normal selves, he said.
To prevent a heat-related illness, Dorais suggests staying inside an air-conditioned place if possible. Those who have to be outside should try to get their errands and exercising done in the morning or the evening when it’s a little cooler, he said.
For the people whose livelihood depends on working outside during the day, Dorais recommends taking breaks, finding shade and drinking ice water to cool off.
Hay shortages and smaller harvests
Among the hardest hit by the hot, dry summer in the Beehive State are farmers and ranchers, who have seen 70 to 75 percent reductions in the water available to them.
“Most of them have had to cut their crop planting and crops that they are watering this year,” said Bailee Woolstenhulme, public information officer for the Utah Department of Agriculture and Food. “Most are planting about 10 percent of what they normally do.”
A smaller harvest could end up costing Utahns more at the grocery store.
“At this time, we can’t really say what increases will be but just from experience and from knowing what the ripple effect will be when you don’t have as much supply, the demand is up, which increases your prices,” Woolstenhulme said. “So, we’re thinking we’ll see that.”
The impact of smaller crops already is being felt by farmers and ranchers, who are paying double what they did last summer for hay, according to Woolstenhulme. In addition, some have been forced to use their hay reserves, leading to fears of a shortage, she said.
“What we’re most concerned about is the availability of hay to see cattle through the wintertime and sheep and other livestock as well,” Woolstenhulme said.
She said that without enough hay, farmers and ranchers might have to sell their livestock and some of them might not be able to get back into ranching.
To help alleviate the situation, the department has set up an online resource bank at https://ag.utah.gov/findhay/ to connect those who want to buy hay, alfalfa and grass to sellers.
Buckling roads and a dust storm
The extreme heat and drought also can affect driving.
Dry conditions were a factor in a July 25 series of multi-vehicle crashes on Interstate 15 that resulted in eight deaths. High winds had picked up dirt from the desert and created a dust storm that blocked visibility.
Also in July, two lanes of Interstate 215 in Taylorsville buckled as the temperature climbed above 100 degrees and were closed while repairs were done.
The Utah Department of Transportation tweeted in mid-June that 12th Street in Ogden was closed from Wall Avenue to Gibson Avenue for the day due to street buckling.
West Valley City Public Works Director Dan Johnson said road buckling generally occurs on concrete pavements because the material expands in the heat and contracts in the cold. And asphalt pavement, if it gets hot enough, will soften and deform, creating ruts, he said.
“If the pavement is not designed properly, we can definitely get rutting in the heat and conversely cracking in the cold, too,” Johnson said.
He said research has been conducted over the years to improve the asphalt pavement mix so it will perform well in extreme heat and cold. There is less rutting on new pavements but failures can still occur in extreme heat, he said.
“Rutting is definitely a problem that can affect the ride quality and you’ll be bouncing around with ruts that occur in the pavement,” Johnson said. “That’s certainly something that we have to contend with.”
More fishing, less hunting
The heat and drought conditions prompted the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources (DWR) to make three rounds of emergency changes to state fishing regulations allowing anglers to catch and keep more fish at more than two dozen lakes, reservoirs and rivers.
The changes, designed to help prevent any potential fish die-off in waterbodies with anticipated low water levels, are in effect until Oct. 31.
In addition, the fishing limit for 57 community ponds in Utah were increased through Aug. 31 by adding a two-trout bonus limit, which allowed anglers to keep a maximum of four fish as long as two were trout.
The department notes that drought impacts fish by reducing the amount of water available.
“Smaller amounts of water heat up more quickly and warm to higher temperatures, which is problematic for fish because warm water holds less oxygen than colder water,” the DWR says in a news release. “The combination of high temperatures and low oxygen can stress fish, causing poor growth and disease, and can sometimes be fatal to fish.
Hunting also has been affected by the draught. In April, the Utah Wildlife Board reduced the number of big game permits for the 2021 season, citing lowered statewide population levels of many species. The number of general-season deer hunting permits approved for 2021 was 74,025, a 5,650 decrease from the previous year.
