Wintry mix spreads across Minnesota

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Temperatures in the Twin Cities have reached 100 degrees in September only once in the past 150 years of records. That could change this Labor Day weekend when an unusually hot and dry air mass blows into Minnesota.

Temperatures will easily reach the upper 90s across southern and western Minnesota, and because the air mass is drier than usual it will heat more easily. That means bank thermometers may be flashing 100 degrees in a town near you this weekend. 

The hottest September temperature ever recorded in the Twin Cities was 104 degrees on Sept. 10, 1931. It looks like we have a decent chance to see 100 degrees in or very close to the Twin Cities this weekend. 

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Global Forecast System and other models continue to show an anomalously warm ridge of high-pressure building across the Upper Midwest this Labor Day weekend. 

The warmer colors on the upper-air loop below signify hotter-than-average temperatures translating to ground level. 

Record highs for the Twin Cities area are in the upper 90s this weekend:

Highs this weekend will reach or exceed those temperatures across much of southern and western Minnesota. We could see multiple new temperature records set this weekend. 

We may hit 90 degrees as soon as Friday. Temperatures will soar well into the 90s by Saturday afternoon. 

Right now, Sunday looks like the hottest day this weekend, but Labor Day will be very close.

This weekend’s inbound air mass looks unusually dry. A wedge of desert air from New Mexico and the Southwest will blow northward into Minnesota this weekend. 

Desert air masses from that part of the world are classified as 

. During heat waves, Minnesota typically sees more humid Maritime Tropical (mT) air masses from the Gulf of Mexico. 

But the wind flow this weekend will shove that mT air mass a little farther east than usual. 

The record heat and unusually dry air mass may produce very low relative humidity levels this weekend. Relative humidity levels could reach the teens and single digits across southern Minnesota this weekend.

That will create the potential for higher-than-usual fire weather danger. 

The Twin Cities National Weather Service office has picked up on that trend and already issued a 

Be careful with fire this weekend Minnesota. 

Weather and Climate News

Updraft® - Minnesota Weather News

Paul Huttner

Author

Temperatures in the Twin Cities have reached 100 degrees in September only once in the past 150 years of records. That could change this Labor Day weekend when an unusually hot and dry air mass blows into Minnesota.


Hottest September day in 92 years possible this weekend

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