Wintry mix spreads across Minnesota

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From a pure weather standpoint, this looks like one of the best weekends of summer in Minnesota. Highs in the 80s and plenty of sunshine are what many Minnesotans live for here in summer. 

The downsides of trumpeting our great-looking weekend forecast are the 

. Closures in the BWCA are already happening due to the proximity of nearby fires in Quetico Provincial Park in Ontario.

The forecast maps still favor extreme heat across the Upper Midwest and High Plains next week. NOAA’s GFS is the most aggressive with a string of highs above 100 degrees centered on the Dakotas and leaking into western Minnesota next week. 

I wish I had better news about the forecast for the next two weeks.

The overall upper-air pattern across North America favors a return to hot and mostly dry conditions across the Upper Midwest. NOAA’s 8 to 14-day temperature outlook paints a red bull’s eye across Minnesota and the Dakotas.

The precipitation outlook favors below average rainfall through the rest of July. 

So it looks very likely that drought and fire danger will increase across most of Minnesota in the next two weeks.

Weather and Climate News

Updraft® - Minnesota Weather News

Paul Huttner

Author

A prolonged heat wave arrives next week.


NOAA GFS temperature forecast for 4 pm Wednesday July 21

Pleasantly summery weekend; heat builds next week

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