Summer 2019: Warm, but not hot

Don’t look now, but Labor Day and the end of meteorological summer are less than three weeks away. Our weather records this summer show a coupe of interesting trends. For many Minnesotans, this may be the perfect summer for temperatures.

Warm, but not hot

It’s interesting to note that every month this summer has been slightly warmer than average in the Twin Cities and most of Minnesota. Temperatures are running about 1.3 degrees higher than the average so far this summer.

But we’ve only recorded four days of 90-degree heat at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport this summer. That’s well below the annual average of 13 days. And we sweated through 20 days of 90-degree heat in the Twin Cities last year.

But interestingly we’ve had 31 days at or above 85 degrees this year. That’s higher than the average of 27 days through Aug. 13. So while this summer has lacked the heat, we’ve overperformed on very warm days at or above 85 degrees.

Partly soggy

Rainfall has been, too, abundant across most of Minnesota this summer. The past few days have been no exception. Many locations have picked up another 1 to 3 inches in the past week. As usual, coverage is spotty in summer storms.

Night rain?

Rain chances the next few days favor Thursday knight into Friday morning, and Saturday night into Sunday morning. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s North American Mesoscale 3 km resolution model paints thunderstorms in western Minnesota Thursday evening that ride into the Twin Cities and eastern Minnesota after midnight.

80s return next week

Highs in the 70s will be common across most of Minnesota through the weekend. Highs in the 80s return next week.