Heat wave into Tuesday; then relief

The well-advertised heat wave has arrived. Temperatures have been on the rise Saturday, although clouds have been slowing the rise around the Twin Cities area. By late afternoon, some sunny spots from Winona, Preston and Austin in the southeast, to Hallock in the northwest and Windom, Jackson, Tracy and Slayton in the southwest had reached 97.

Hot into Tuesday

Hot weather will be with us statewide through Monday. Temperatures will begin to cool from the northwest on Tuesday while southeastern portions remain toasty for one last day.

Heat advisories

The National Weather Service has posted a heat advisory from Saturday afternoon through Tuesday afternoon for the Twin Cities metro area and southeastward for counties generally along the Mississippi River in southeastern Minnesota and western Wisconsin. Hot daytime temperatures combined with warm overnight lows will provide little recovery from the heat. This advisory might be expanded westward on Sunday.

Farther north, the Duluth National Weather Service office has issued a more limited heat advisory from noon until 7 p.m. on Sunday from Brainerd and Hinckley to the Duluth area and northwestern Wisconsin for hot, sticky conditions.

How hot?

Highs on Sunday should be mostly in the 90s statewide, with some spots farther south likely to touch 100 degrees. The Twin Cities record high of 97 for Sunday could easily be surpassed.

Labor Day Monday will also bring widespread highs in the 90s. The Twin Cities record of 98 for that day might be tougher to crack.

Turning cooler for midweek

Cooler air will begin to flow into Minnesota from the northwest behind a cold front on Tuesday. Northwestern portions of the state will get some thermal relief while temperatures won’t retreat much around the Twin Cities and points southeast as they remain in the heat advisory for one last day.

I’m setting my alarm clock for Wednesday. That’s when temperatures will have receded to about where they should be for a pleasant early September day.

Then temperatures should remain comfortable into next weekend.

Prospects for rain

Sadly, the upcoming week looks rather dry. A few scattered showers might pop up across central Minnesota yet this Saturday evening. Most days next week will be rain-free. The best chance of rain should arrive in the Tuesday-Wednesday timeframe as the cold front crosses the state southeastward.

Looking broadly at the upcoming week, the 7-day rain outlook through 7 p.m. next Saturday is for very little rain to fall across the state. Areas near the Canadian border might get half an inch or so of rain, but the drought will probably get worse before it gets better in the rest of Minnesota. Wisconsin might fare better. But Iowa looks so dry that much of the state might not get any rain during that time.