Heat stress in Salt Lake City
Dry, high-desert basin heat with hot, very sunny summers and large diurnal swings.
Light precautions for intense activity. Keep water handy.
Wet-bulb globe temperature via the Liljegren (2008) method. This page is cached and refreshes in the background, so the live badge below can be a few minutes ahead of it.
View Salt Lake City on the live mapReading heat stress in Salt Lake City
Wet-bulb globe temperature (WBGT) is the heat measure that actually tracks danger to the body. Unlike the plain air temperature on your phone, it folds in humidity, wind, and direct sun: the factors that decide whether your sweat can still cool you. It’s the standard the military, athletic associations, and occupational-safety bodies use to call when outdoor activity is no longer safe.
That matters in Salt Lake City because dry, high-desert basin heat with hot, very sunny summers and large diurnal swings. The number above is the live outdoor WBGT for the city right now; tap through to the live map to inspect any neighborhood, scrub the forecast hour by hour, and see the 7-day outlook.
How hot Salt Lake City usually gets
Across 2015–2024, Salt Lake City averaged a 89°F daily high in summer: 52nd hottest of the 174 metros we track, and July is typically the warmest month.
Most of the heat here sits below the extremes: around 54 days a year top 90°F, and only about 4 reach 100°F.
The air is dry, averaging about 32% through summer, so sweat works and the danger is sun load and raw heat rather than mugginess.
A bad day runs well past a normal one, with 104°F recorded against a 89°F summer average.
Daily high temperatures and humidity from ERA5 reanalysis, 2015–2024 (hottest day in the sample: 2021-06-15). These are climate averages for context: the reading at the top of this page is the live one.
For school sports, see our Utah heat policy page.
Heat in Salt Lake City: common questions
How hot does it usually get in Salt Lake City?
Across 2015–2024, Salt Lake City averaged a 89°F daily high through summer, with about 54 days a year at or above 90°F and 4 at or above 100°F. July is typically the hottest month, and the hottest day in that sample reached 104°F. Figures are from ERA5 daily reanalysis.
When is the hottest time of year in Salt Lake City?
July has the highest average daily high in Salt Lake City. Summer humidity averages only about 32%, so sweat evaporates efficiently: the danger here is sun and raw heat rather than mugginess. Use the forecast on this page to plan around the specific days that matter.
What is the WBGT in Salt Lake City right now?
The reading at the top of this page is the current wet-bulb globe temperature for Salt Lake City, Utah, computed from live weather by the Liljegren (2008) method and labeled with how recently it updated. For an exact reading at your own neighborhood, plus an hour-by-hour forecast, open the live map.
Why is WBGT more useful than the temperature for Salt Lake City?
Air temperature ignores humidity, wind, and sun: the things that decide whether heat is dangerous. Salt Lake City's climate (dry, high-desert basin heat with hot, very sunny summers and large diurnal swings.) is exactly why a single "feels-like" or thermometer reading can understate the real risk. WBGT captures all of it in one number.
When is heat most dangerous in Salt Lake City?
July is the peak month in Salt Lake City, and within a day heat stress is highest in the early-to-mid afternoon when sun load is greatest. About 54 days a year reach 90°F, so most of the risk sits in a handful of afternoons rather than across the whole season. Use the forecast on this page to find the window that works.
Put Salt Lake City’s live heat stress on your site
A self-updating WBGT badge for schools, teams, camps, and local sites: it always shows the current reading and links back here.
<iframe src="https://wetbulbtracker.com/embed/salt-lake-city-ut" width="340" height="150" style="border:0" title="Live WBGT: Salt Lake City, UT" loading="lazy"></iframe>Paste it into any website. The badge updates itself and links back here. Add ?theme=light for light sites.