ST. GEORGE, Utah — Usually, when my FOX 13 News colleagues in the Salt Lake City newsroom ask how bad the heat is down in southern Utah, I use the expression, "It's a dry heat, it's not so bad."
That wasn't the case on Friday, as it wasn't just hot, but also muggy in Swamp St. George.
"It wasn't too bad until you just said it. And now I'm like, ugh. I'm like, I'm sticky. I feel sticky. That's weird," shared Pine View High School aide Megan Paxman.
An Excessive Heat Warning issued by the National Weather Service started at noon Thursday and was expected to continue until sunset Friday. Locals say on a day like this, no appliance is more vital than the A/C, but can the power grid take it?
"We've built our power grid here to be able to handle quite amount of demand," explained St. George Energy Services Director Bryan Dial. "The biggest driver on the grid is air conditioners. Temperature, and oftentimes humidity, comes into it because then air conditioners run more because part of what they do is pull out the humidity from the air."
Monsoonal moisture was to blame for the recent mugginess, which, for people here in this part of Utah, isn’t the typical mugginess felt in other cities.
"I can see the beads on your head. I can feel a little bit, too," said Dean Marple, who is visiting from Phoenix.
When the humidity is usually about 2 percent in St. George, that’s a big deal. On Friday, it reached 15 percent at one point. But the monsoons also brought some clouds that provided a natural shade and a handful of raindrops.
"I'd say today, it's pretty hot. It feels a little humid," shared St. George resident Brekkon Boulper. "A little bit more humid than what it normally is."
But visitors to the area provided some perspective on what we locals were feeling.
"The heat out here today? Hey, it's not bad," explained Phoenix's Marple. "We're from Phoenix. Phoenix has four seasons. Did you know that? What are the two summers, a fall and a Hell."
