Wednesday brings cooler weather across Minnesota, smoky conditions out west

CATHY WURZER: Well, if you step outside today, it really does feel like fall. And someone joked on social media this morning that it's hoodie-and-shorts weather. Heh, only in Minnesota. After a Labor Day weekend heat wave, temperatures have dropped into the 60s, and it does not look like there's any turning back. Joining us right now is MPR's chief meteorologist, Paul Huttner. Well, I guess it had to end sometime. So here we are. [LAUGHS]

PAUL HUTTNER: Yeah, 30 degrees cooler.

CATHY WURZER: What? I know. Let's wrap up the summer, shall we? Although, I know it's, theoretically, not quite fall yet, but it feels like it. So where do we end up with the 90-degree days historically?

PAUL HUTTNER: Yeah, we set a really good number this year, I guess, if you like the heat. Summer of 2023, you talk about summer, right? June through August, meteorological summer, as we call it. It was hot and parched, fourth warmest summer on record, Cathy. If you add up all the highs and lows, it was 74.8 degrees in the Twin Cities. That's about three degrees warmer than average, and that's good enough for the sixth-- the fourth warmest summer on record.

The 90-degree days, you mentioned, the sixth highest number. We had 32 days of 90-degree heat. That's a month of 90s, Cathy, that we had this summer, ties 1933 for that distinction, right? And the third straight year we've really jumped into flash drought also. Rainfall seven inches below average in the Twin Cities this summer. Other parts of Minnesota did better, but most of the state still in drought. So another one of these flash-drought summers in Minnesota.

By the way, September running 14 degrees warmer than average so far. As you mentioned, it won't last. We're going to be closer to average as we head through the rest of this week.

CATHY WURZER: Say, I know it's been dry, but gosh, some areas of Minnesota last night got significant rain. I was kind of hoping the Twin Cities would, but that did not materialize.

PAUL HUTTNER: No, and that's pretty typical because the center of that low pressure went through northern Minnesota, and that's usually where the best lift in action is. So we just were on the southern end of that front. But you are right, 3.9 inches of rain just north of Duluth, about seven miles north of Duluth, 2.8 at Duluth airport, so that is a real soaking.

Grand Marais had 2.2 inches, Lutsen about 1.8, Brainerd Lakes area about an inch and a half. So really good soaking from there into Northwest Wisconsin and some tree damage on the iron range with some of those storms, Cathy.

CATHY WURZER: Yeah, I saw that. Wow. So another day, another air-quality alert, which is not great.

PAUL HUTTNER: Yeah, I know. And that's for, basically, everywhere west of the Twin Cities, so about the western half, two-thirds of Minnesota until 6:00 PM tonight. I see air-quality readings are in the unhealthy category in Western Minnesota today. I've seen 160s, 170s, so that's pretty significant. That's smoke again from Canadian wildfires.

The surface- and mid-level winds will kind of blow that smoke back to the west into the Dakotas over the next 24 hours. So air quality should improve in Western Minnesota some into the moderate range. Twin Cities, Eastern Minnesota, I think we'll see good air quality for the next day or two.

CATHY WURZER: OK, so when is meteorological fall again and what can we expect possibly going into this next season?

PAUL HUTTNER: Yeah, September through November. So we've just entered meteorological fall. Fall is the second-fastest warming season in Minnesota. Our falls have warmed about three degrees, on average, since 1970. That's a climate-change signal. But if you think about it, it's a big change as we go through the next three months.

Our average high, 78 today, goes to 35 by November 30. So yeah, it's coming. And it looks warm, though. The September outlook from NOAA saying warmer than average, probably drier than average, and for the fall, about equal chances. So we usually have some pretty nice falls in Minnesota. I still think the best month, maybe six weeks of weather, is ahead for Minnesota.

CATHY WURZER: Oh, ever the optimist. I like that. Say, I know that, of course, you keep track of the extreme weather events, and there was an interesting piece in the Washington Post about how insurers are cutting back on coverage because of extreme weather and climate events. And some people are just dropping their homeowners insurance entirely. Interesting. What do you think?

PAUL HUTTNER: Yes, it's really remarkable that this is happening because we've talked about the pressure on the insurance companies for years now. And as you said, Washington Post is saying that many major insurers, Allstate, American Family, Nationwide, among a few, are cutting their hurricane coverage for the coast. They're raising their deductibles tremendously for hurricane damage, same in wildfire areas, places like California.

Climate change is making insurance more expensive and harder to get. And that trend is continuing. They're really seeing it in their bottom line, Cathy. And this is something that's going to present itself over and over in different parts of the country. Our insurance rates in Minnesota have tripled in the last 15 years.

CATHY WURZER: Mm-hm. And before you go, let's talk about "Climate Cast."

PAUL HUTTNER: Yeah, Minnesota has some grants for increasing electric school buses, better range on the buses, the bus routes are pretty reliable so they know how far they'll go. We'll talk with the MPCA about that on "Climate Cast" tomorrow afternoon during All Things Considered.

CATHY WURZER: Excellent. Well, I hope you have a good rest of the day.

PAUL HUTTNER: You, too. Thanks, Cathy.

CATHY WURZER: Paul Huttner is our chief meteorologist. By the way, of course, you can listen to Paul every afternoon with Tom Crann during All Things Considered. And if you want weather information anytime, check out the Updraft blog. That is at mprnews.org.