Wintry mix spreads across Minnesota

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Minnesota sees plenty of sunshine Wednesday through Friday. High temperatures will be cooler than normal Wednesday but warmer Thursday and Friday.

First day of summer starts cooler than normal

Wednesday will be quite pleasant though a few degrees cooler than normal for the first day of meteorological summer.

Why do we start summer on June 1 and Autumn on Sept. 1, etc.? For our weather and climate records the meteorological seasons do make more sense than the astronomical seasons. 

The astronomical seasons track the sun’s position to earth, not the conditions in our atmosphere. For example, the sun is at it’s peak intensity on the summer solstice in the northern hemisphere, but it takes a full month (or more) to realize the warmest temperatures. 

The opposite is true in winter: the lowest sun angle is in December with the coldest temperatures in January and February. June is warmer than September and March is warmer than December, so to include most of each of those months in the previous season doesn’t make sense from a temperature standpoint.

The pleasant weather will continue through Wednesday with slightly warmer temperatures.

The next chance of showers rolls in Saturday but it looks to be mainly rain showers with little energy to support thunderstorms.

Weather and Climate News

Updraft® - Minnesota Weather News

Sven Sundgaard

Author

Minnesota sees plenty of sunshine Wednesday through Friday. High temperatures will be cooler than normal Wednesday but warmer Thursday and Friday.


Plenty of sunshine Wednesday through Friday. High temperatures will be cooler than normal Wednesday but warmer Thursday and Friday.

Cooler than normal Wednesday; sun through Friday

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