“Fair” Weather

They call it "The Great Minnesota Get Together."

And like everywhere else in Minnesota when we get together, we talk weather.

This year at the Fair, the talk is drought, floods and wind damage from recent summer storms that downed about 60 shade trees on the Fairgrounds.

I talked to a cattle rancher near Cambridge who says he's never seen the corn crop around the state vary so much from county to county. You can literally see good corn in one town, drive 20 miles and see drought stressed corn withering in the field.

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Check out the crop report below, and you can see for yourself how the crop is doing in different parts of Minnesota. Our recent monsoonal deluge has helped topisoil moisture greatly in the central part of the state.

http://www.nass.usda.gov/Statistics_by_State/Minnesota/Publications/Crop_Progress_&_Condition/cw082707.pdf

I've also talked to a young engineer who says wind energy is blowing into Minnesota like an arctic front in January, a skywarn severe weather spotter from the NWS, the guy who takes the official State Fair weather observations, and gone inside a faux tornado with KSTP weather guy Patrick Hammer.

Listen for my "Fair Weather" segemnts on Morning Edition and All Things Considered all week, and look for more musings here. That's assuming I can still type after my visit to the all you can drink milk booth.

PH