Weather
At 2:54 p.m. on Sunday, July 12, 2026, Salt Lake City recorded a temperature of 109°F according to the National Weather Service — its hottest temperature in recorded history. It beat the previous record of 107°F, which was previously set in 1960, 2002, 2021, and twice in 2022. Salt Lake City’s records go back over 150 years to 1874.
The temperatures in Utah’s capital city were so extreme that a plane headed to Salt Lake City International Airport was forced to divert, according to Paralympic snowboarder Brenna Huckaby.
“It’s so hot in SLC the airplane I’m on can’t land until it’s 106 degrees out (currently 109) so they are diverting us to Twin Falls until we can try again for SLC,” the athlete posted on Threads. “That’s wild.”
The extreme heat was not isolated to Salt Lake City. Because of a high-pressure system moving north through Utah, other parts of the state, and even cities in other states, experienced unusually high temperatures. Billings, Montana, recorded a temperature of 111°F, and St. George, Utah — the holder of Utah’s highest temperature ever officially recorded at 117 degrees — reached 106°F.
Just last year, Utah experienced its warmest year on record, as well as its warmest meteorological winter on record, according to KSL TV. To round things out, it also experienced its lowest snow year on record in 2025-26.
A Dying Snowpack
While a temperature record broken in mid-summer may seem distant from skiing, heat events like these are closely tied to the health of the state’s snowpack. Utah’s snowpack is an important source of water, storing it throughout the winter months and slowly melting throughout the spring and summer. With rising temperatures quickly melting the snowpack, Utah could experience heavy drought conditions, and the state’s lakes and reservoirs that rely on snowpack could be negatively impacted.
Utah’s snowpack conditions have already experienced their lowest year on record, coming off the state’s record-warm winter. Utah’s statewide snow-water equivalent on April 1 came in at roughly one-fifth of the previous record low, shattering previous record lows. Utah’s snowpack also peaked unusually early, topping out on March 7 at just 8.3 inches of snow water equivalent. The statewide median peak is 14 inches, meaning the season never came close to building a normal winter base before it began to fade.
For Utah’s ski industry, these temperatures can be catastrophic as they continue to increase. High temperatures and reduced snowpacks mean shorter operating windows, increased reliance on snowmaking, and poor, patchy skiing conditions. Those impacts affect both resorts and local economies. Hotels, restaurants, ski shops, and other businesses that depend on winter tourism are vulnerable to poor winters. With the ski industry contributing $2.51 billion in 2024-25, poor winters and high temperatures can have big consequences across the state.
A Larger Trend
Salt Lake City’s record-breaking heat is a part of broader climate change caused by the burning of greenhouse gases like coal, oil, and natural gas. Over the past 50 years, Utah has warmed at nearly twice the global average, according to SaltLakeCity.gov. With global warming comes more extreme weather, like the city’s current heat wave, along with shifting climate zones and worsening air quality.
As temperatures continue to climb and Utah breaks more records, climate change is making events like this all the more common. For a state that relies heavily on its snow and natural beauty, Sunday’s hot temperature is a sign of potentially scary things to come.
