Salt Lake City seeing warmer temperatures during winter
May 16, 2025, 6:00 AM
(Canva)
(Canva)
SALT LAKE CITY — Temperatures are getting warmer in Salt Lake City, according to research group Climate Central.
It reports the coldest temps have risen more than eight degrees in the past 70 years between 1951 and 2020.
In fact, Salt Lake City hasn’t had a recorded temperature below zero since 2017.
Related: Keep an eye out for rattlesnakes, says the Division of Wildlife Resources
The affect of warmer temperatures
Climate Central’s Jen Brady said higher temps can help different crops to grow.
“[The] ground doesn’t get as cold as the winter. You don’t have the hard freezes and so you may be able to grow something that was formally considered somewhat tropical in a region like Utah.”
But she also warns that some of our crops need cold periods to grow.
“Things like blue berries. They actually need some coldness in the winter and if they don’t get enough coldness they actually won’t fruit in the summer.”
Fruit trees also need some freeze time, and production will drop without it.
Also higher temps can allow pests like mosquitos to flourish for longer periods of time.
“So we’re having longer mosquito seasons because there is more time that they can breed.”
Brady expects Salt Lake lowest temps to increase another six degrees over the next 30 years.
Related: Warmer weather has many Utahns ready for gardening
