ST. GEORGE — Cedar City met the all-time high temperature for Aug. 15 this year, reaching the 17-year-old record of 96 degrees Fahrenheit, according to the National Weather Service.
The last time that Cedar City reached 96 degrees on Aug. 15 was in 2002. Last year, the high temperature was only 88 degrees and was 83 degrees the year before, according to Weather Underground.
Monica Traphagan, a meteorologist for the NWS, said that the day’s unusually high temperature was likely due to a cold front that came through that night, which pushed a “warm mass” over the area.
“We had a cold front that moved through last night into this morning and through central Utah,” she said. “The whole state was generally warm.”
Bullfrog Basic also had record-breaking temperatures on Thursday. At 104 degrees, they beat their 2003 record of 103.
While St. George did not meet its record-high temperature for Aug. 15, it was higher than in previous years. St. George saw a high of 105 degrees on Thursday, which is five degrees warmer than in 2018, and 12 degrees higher than in 2017. The town’s record high temperature for Aug. 15 is 109.
The day’s warm temperature comes after the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration found that July was the hottest month ever recorded on earth, measuring 1.71 degrees F above the 20th century’s average global temperature of 60.4 degrees.
Utah, too, saw above-average temperatures for July. Temperatures were 1.7 degrees F above the average temperatures seen between 1980 and 2010, said Jon Meyer, a climatologist with the Utah Climate Center.
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