Dog Days: Steamy & stormy

Welcome to July in Minnesota.

We complain all year that it's too cold, too windy, too this, too that. Here it is. You want 80? Gotcha covered. You want humidity? Can do. Sweltering 90s and big boomers? On the way.

I remember when we were kids (a loooong time ago!) in Minnesota and in January somebody would always say; "Boy I wish it was hot like July for just one day!" Then in July....we'd wish it was like fall again.

It looks like many weather wishes and fantasies will come true this week. We'll see perfect summer days, stifling heat and humidity, big storms and a cool almost "fallish" breeze by mid-week.

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Here's the outlook:

Monday: Summer's finest. Mostly sunny warm and increasingly humid. Dew points climbing through the 60s. Spotty thunderstorms far west. Highs near 88 metro, 80 far north. Wind S 5-15 mph.

Tuesday: Uncomfortably hot & humid! Highs 94 to 97 south, including the metro. Dew points near 70. Strong to severe T-Storms moving north (AM & daytime) to south (late PM & evening). Wind south 10-20 mph.

Wednesday & Thursday:

Really nice! Noticeable drop in humidity with dew points falling into the upper 50s. Highs near 80 south, 70s north. Wind NW 10-20mph Wednesday, 5-10mph Thursday.

Friday into the weekend: Muggy again with increasing chances for thunder. Highs in the 80s.

July 2010: Warm again

July temperatures are running 3.4 degrees above average as we enter the last week of the month. This is the 5th straight month of above average temps in Minnesota this year.

We've had 4 days at or above 90 degrees this month, with a total of 7 days this year of 90-plus. The average number of 90 degree days for the summer is about 13 days.

One day heat wave:

Day #8 of 90 degree weather will occur Tuesday as heat and humidity will surges north ahead of an advancing cold front. Some forecasting techniques yield a high temperature of between 95 and 97 degrees Tuesday from the metro south. Dew points will approach 70, so you'll feel like you're swimming in a free sauna. Heat indices should climb above 100 Tuesday.

Severe threat:

As the cold front pushes south Tuesday, severe storms will again rumble across the state. Unlike the last few outbreaks, these storms will come from the northwest and work south.

SPC has a slight risk for storms in Minnesota. It looks like storms will fire in northern Minnesota during the day, and rumble into the southern half of the state later in the afternoon and evening. The primary threats will be damaging wind and hail, but there could be a few tornadoes as the storms get going Tuesday PM.

Enjoy the last week of July!

PH