Weather in Salt Lake City in August

A good month. August is a solid month to be in Salt Lake City. Highs average 32.2 °C, lows 17.9 °C, and rain falls on 6 days — nothing in the month is working against you.

August ranks 5 of 12 in Salt Lake City: past the worst of the year but short of September, which is the month to book if the dates are open.

Rain falls on only 6 days, so an itinerary with no wet-weather fallback is a reasonable risk. Pack for 32.2 °C days and 17.9 °C nights; the spread matters more here than any single number.

What the averages hide

Averages flatten a month, and this one hides a few things: 6 days clear 35 °C, so a serious heatwave is normal rather than notable. Across the twenty years measured, the hottest August day reached 39.8 °C and the coldest night fell to 7.7 °C.

August is moderately variable: 2 mm in the driest year against 70 mm in the wettest, around an average of 24 mm. Roughly two Augusts in three land near that average, and the third does something else entirely.

Wind is light at 4.3 km/h, so the temperature on the page is close to the temperature on your skin, and the air is dry at 38% humidity, which makes the heat far more bearable than the same figure somewhere humid — and dehydrates you faster than you expect.

How August sits in the year

Temperatures hold steady either side: 33.6 °C in July, 32.2 here, 26.6 in September. Nothing about the timing within the month matters much.

Daylight in August

13.8 hours of daylight, losing 1.2 hours across the month. That is between Salt Lake City's extremes of 15.1 and 9.3 hours, so days are long enough not to constrain the plan.

An inland climate

With no coast nearby, the year swings a fair way — 39.5 °C between the warmest afternoons and the coldest nights, wider than any coastal city at this latitude would manage. At 1299 m the air is thin enough to matter — sun that burns faster than the temperature suggests, and nights that cool off quickly. Within August itself the daily swing is 14.2 °C, so mornings and afternoons need different clothes.

How busy it gets

Peak season. Expect the highest prices of the year and to be booking well ahead.

Crowd levels are estimated from climate desirability and school-holiday calendars, not from visitor numbers.

August in Salt Lake City versus nearby

If Salt Lake City is one option among several, the nearby comparison is worth making. Park City is a better bet in August — 5.2 °C cooler, 3 days more rain. Moab is the weaker option in August — 2.5 °C warmer, 2 days more rain.

So: August is a compromise. September is 22 points better and is what Salt Lake City is actually like at its best — worth moving the trip for if that is possible, and worth adjusting expectations for if it is not.

Every month in Salt Lake City

See all twelve months in Salt Lake City, or where else to go in August.