Meteorological summer; smoky ‘wax paper’ skies but warm this week
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Happy Meteorological Summer 2019!
Meteorologists call June through August summer. Welcome to the three warmest months of the year in Minnesota on average. Our first week that meteorologists call "summer" will feel like it. Highs reach the 80s this week.
Tuesday night thunder?
Today starts comfortable, but you'll notice the sticky factor on the rise late Monday night as dew points approach 60 degrees. There's a small chance for a few pop-up thunder showers late, but the better chance of storms forms Tuesday in northern Minnesota and rides south along a front toward the Twin Cities Tuesday night.
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The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's NAM 3 km resolution model paints a line of thunderstorms sweeping from northern Minnesota around 7 p.m. Tuesday night into the Twin Cities around midnight.
There is a marginal risk for severe storms across Minnesota Tuesday.
Wax paper sky
Massive Canadian wildfires continue to pump out thick smoke plumes. Winds aloft are fanning the plume right toward Minnesota. Some of the thickest smoke is blowing right across Minnesota Monday.
Most of the smoke is aloft over Minnesota Monday. So far the air quality is good at ground level. But we'll have to watch to see in any of the smoke mixes down to ground level this week.
Value of a blue sky?
I'm old enough to remember when the sky was blue in Minnesota. But if Monday's sky was a Ralph Lauren paint color it might be called dystopian gray. It's like looking at the sun through a sheet of wax paper.
By my count, this is the fifth day in a row we've been robbed of blue skies by this current smoke event.
In case you're hearing it in my tone, I'm not happy about that. I feel worse for those in the west dealing with these fires, but climate change is also clearly playing a role in increased smoke events over Minnesota. It begs questions: what's the value of a blue sky in Minnesota? And how do we get our blue skies back?
Look up. The effects of climate change are right above us.
