Prompts winter weather advisories as cold air moves in Friday night

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Tuesday’s air mass over Minnesota is so dry, it just tied an all-time record. The dew point at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport dipped to just 10 degrees at 4 p.m. Tuesday. That ties the all-time record for the lowest dew point ever recorded on May 12.

You can see how dew points at the airport hovered in the lower teens all day Tuesday.

MPR climate contributor Dr. Mark Seeley adds some perspective.

Tuesday’s air mass over Minnesota is drier than the desert southwest. Dew points dropped as low as zero in northern Minnesota Tuesday. 

Now look at dew points in the southwest. They hovered in the 30s and 40s in many areas. Palm Springs had a dew point of 42 degrees Tuesday afternoon.

Our parched air mass retreats into Canada Wednesday and Thursday. Watch the animation below as a moist, showery air mass blows into Minnesota. Dew points rise into the 50s by Thursday.

This is how air mass changes happen in Minnesota. 

Also, see the yellow shaded hues with dew points in the 60s to 70 degrees down in Missouri?

Weather and Climate News

Updraft® - Minnesota Weather News

Paul Huttner

Author

An extremely dry air mass over Minnesota tied dew point records in Minnesota.

Oklahoma Mesonet

Temperature and dew point at MSP Airport Tuesday

Dry humor: Record low dew points in Minnesota this week

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