Hot front: 100 degrees possible in Minnesota next week?
Medium-range forecasts suggest more frequent hot spells in the next 2-3 weeks
I’m beginning to see signs this could evolve into the hot summer of 2020.
Exhibit 1: June is already running more than 9 degrees warmer than average in the Twin Cities.
Exhibit 2: We’ve already recorded three days with 90-degree heat in the Twin Cities. That surpasses the monthly average of two days for June.
Exhibit 3: Medium-range forecast models suggest another heatwave next week.
We catch a break the next few days with much more pleasant temperatures across Minnesota. Highs in the 70s (with 60s up north) will be common through the weekend.
Enjoy the free AC while it lasts.
Heat builds next week
The upper air forecast charts for next week favor a building ridge of high pressure aloft over the central and eastern U.S.
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This “Bermuda High”-type pattern brings heat during the summer months. When it pushed far enough northward, highs into the 90s are common in Minnesota.
The European model is bullish on the magnitude of next week’s hot spell. The usually trusty Euro cranks out high temperatures around 100 degrees in the Twin Cities and much of central and southern Minnesota by next Wednesday.
NOAA’s six-to-10 day outlook favors warmer than average temperatures overall.
Hot into July?
NOAA’s week 3-4 temperature outlook skews warm into early July.
And NOAA’s CFS2 monthly temperature outlook for July also favors warmer than average temperatures across the Great Lakes and Upper Midwest.
It’s been a while since we’ve had a memorably hot summer in Minnesota. I remember the unrelenting summer of 1988 when we recorded 44 days of 90-degree heat in the Twin Cities. The early signs this season point to increased odds for more frequent hot spells this summer.
Stay tuned.