Relief! Cooler & drier into Thursday; Heat returns Friday

Now that was a storm!

Severe thunderstorms that tore a path though much of west & central Minnesota eased just slightly as they rumbled into the metro after dark Sunday night.

Some wind, rain & damage reports:

Storm reports from the Twin Cities NWS.

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT...SUMMARY

NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TWIN CITIES/CHANHASSEN MN

753 AM CDT MON JUL 11 2011

..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...

..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....

..REMARKS..

0725 PM TSTM WND DMG MORRIS 45.59N 95.91W

07/10/2011 STEVENS MN TRAINED SPOTTER

4 INCH DIAMETER BRANCHES DOWN IN TOWN.

0725 PM TSTM WND GST MORRIS 45.59N 95.91W

07/10/2011 M54.00 MPH STEVENS MN TRAINED SPOTTER

0730 PM TSTM WND DMG 6 WSW ALEXANDRIA 45.84N 95.49W

07/10/2011 DOUGLAS MN TRAINED SPOTTER

LARGE TREES DOWNED.

0747 PM TSTM WND GST ALEXANDRIA 45.87N 95.38W

07/10/2011 M79.00 MPH DOUGLAS MN MESONET

MNDOT I-94 AND MN HWY 29 MILE POST 46

0750 PM TSTM WND DMG 5 W STARBUCK 45.62N 95.63W

07/10/2011 POPE MN TRAINED SPOTTER

SCATTERED LARGE UP TO 30 DIAMETER TREES.

0752 PM TSTM WND DMG BRANDON 45.97N 95.60W

07/10/2011 DOUGLAS MN LAW ENFORCEMENT

LARGE TREES AND POWERLINES DOWN

0753 PM TSTM WND GST ALEXANDRIA 45.87N 95.38W

07/10/2011 M63.00 MPH DOUGLAS MN MESONET

AXN AIRPORT

0757 PM TSTM WND GST FREEPORT 45.66N 94.69W

07/10/2011 M54.00 MPH STEARNS MN TRAINED SPOTTER

0758 PM TSTM WND GST 5 S MARIETTA 44.94N 96.42W

07/10/2011 M65.00 MPH LAC QUI PARLE MN MESONET

MEHURIN US-HWY 212 MILE POST 1

0759 PM TSTM WND DMG GLENWOOD 45.65N 95.38W

07/10/2011 POPE MN CO-OP OBSERVER

EIGHT INCH DIAMETER TREE DOWN.

0810 PM TSTM WND DMG SAUK CENTRE 45.74N 94.96W

07/10/2011 STEARNS MN TRAINED SPOTTER

ESTIMATED TIME POWER LINES DOWN AND POWER OUT IN TOWN.

0810 PM TSTM WND DMG SAUK CENTRE 45.74N 94.96W

07/10/2011 STEARNS MN TRAINED SPOTTER

ESTIMATED TIME NUMEROUS TREES DOWN FROM 5 MILES WEST

RIGHT THROUGH TO SAUK CENTRE.

0810 PM TSTM WND DMG SAUK CENTRE 45.74N 94.96W

07/10/2011 STEARNS MN TRAINED SPOTTER

ESTIMATED TIME...ENHANCED UNIDIRECTIONAL DAMAGE LARGE

GRAIN EQUIPMENT TRAILERS FLIPPED.

0814 PM TSTM WND GST MADISON 45.01N 96.19W

07/10/2011 M70.00 MPH LAC QUI PARLE MN MESONET

AIRPORT AWOS

0815 PM HAIL 2 NNE DAWSON 44.96N 96.03W

07/10/2011 M1.00 INCH LAC QUI PARLE MN TRAINED SPOTTER

0822 PM TSTM WND GST 1 SE GEORGEVILLE 45.43N 94.93W

07/10/2011 M50.00 MPH STEARNS MN MESONET

0823 PM HAIL 5 NNW BOYD 44.92N 95.93W

07/10/2011 M0.50 INCH LAC QUI PARLE MN TRAINED SPOTTER

0840 PM HAIL 6 SSE MONTEVIDEO 44.87N 95.69W

07/10/2011 M0.88 INCH YELLOW MEDICINE MN TRAINED SPOTTER

0845 PM TSTM WND DMG 4 WSW PLEASANT BEACH 45.75N 94.81W

07/10/2011 STEARNS MN TRAINED SPOTTER

ENTIRE ROW OF FULL GROWN 16 INCH DIAMETER TREES DOWN

ALONG WITH WITH 2 TO 8 INCH BRANCHES.

0845 PM TSTM WND GST HANLEY FALLS 44.69N 95.62W

07/10/2011 M62.00 MPH YELLOW MEDICINE MN MESONET

MNDOT HWY 23 AND MILE POST 94

0845 PM TSTM WND DMG 4 WSW PLEASANT BEACH 45.75N 94.81W

07/10/2011 STEARNS MN TRAINED SPOTTER

POWER LINES DOWN.

0848 PM TORNADO 6 NW GROVE CITY 45.21N 94.77W

07/10/2011 KANDIYOHI MN TRAINED SPOTTER

ESTIMATED LOCATION. MULTIPLE REPORTS OF A TORNADO ON THE

GROUND SIGHTED FROM GROVE CITY. RADAR INDICATES THAT

AERAS OF ROTATION WERE NORTHWEST OF GROVE CITY AND NOT

ACTUALLY IN THE TOWN. NEITHER COUNTY HAS REPORTED ANY

DAMAGE IN THAT GENERAL AREA. AN NWS STORM SURVEY IS

POSSIBLE.

Complete list of damage reports here.

MAX/MIN TEMPERATURE AND PRECIPITATION TABLE FOR

CENTRAL AND SOUTH CENTRAL MINNESOTA AND WEST CENTRAL WISCONSIN

NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TWIN CITIES/CHANHASSEN MN

722 AM CDT MON JUL 11 2011

VALUES REPRESENT HIGHS YESTERDAY...LOWS OVER THE LAST 12 HOURS

AND PRECIPITATION OVER THE LAST 24 HOURS

:

: MAX MIN

:ID LOCATION TEMP TEMP PCPN

EAU : EAU CLAIRE WI : 89 / 67 / 1.58

MSP : MINNEAPOLIS MN : 92 / 69 / 0.57

STC : ST CLOUD MN : 92 / 64 / 0.42

AXN : ALEXANDRIA MN : 91 / 61 / 1.26

MIC : CRYSTAL MN : 93 / 68 / 0.86

FCM : FLYING CLOUD MN : 91 / 69 / 0.40

RWF : REDWOOD FALLS MN : 91 / 67 / 1.09

STP : ST PAUL MN : 90 / 68 / 0.59

: IN MINNESOTA

:

ADVM5: ANDOVER MN : DH0600/ 91 / 65 / 1.67

BTHM5: BLUE EARTH MN : DH0600/ 92 / 68 / 1.80

CLSM5: CARLOS MN : DH0616/ M / M / 0.60

MPXM5: CHANHASSEN WFO : DH0700/ 88 / 67 / 0.38

CHKM5: CHASKA NW MN : DH0600/ 90 / 66 / 0.30

ZMPM5: FARMINGTON CWSU : DH0700/ M / M / 1.11

FORM5: FOREST LAKE MN : DH0700/ 92 / 64 / 1.62

HSTM5: HASTINGS L/D MN : DH0600/ 87 / 69 / 1.12

JORM5: JORDAN MN : DH0530/ 88 / 67 / 1.81

KIMM5: KIMBALL MN : DH0604/ 88 / 64 / 0.89

LNGM5: LONG PRAIRIE MN : DH0600/ 87 / 57 / 0.52

LSAM5: LWR ST ANTHONY MN : DH0600/ M / M / 1.40

NUMM5: NEW ULM 3 SE MN : DH0550/ 87 / 68 / 0.78

NMAM5: NORTH MANKATO : DH0700/ 89 / 68 / 0.62

RDWM5: RED WING L/D MN : DH0600/ 90 / 69 / 1.26

REWM5: REDWOOD FALLS MN : DH0500/ 93 / 68 / 1.27

RCEM5: RICE MN : DH0700/ 90 / 61 / 0.36

RFDM5: ROCKFORD MN : DH0645/ M / M / 0.47

SFDM5: SPRINGFIELD MN : DH0645/ M / M / 1.02

:

: IN WISCONSIN

:

JIMW3: JIM FALLS WI : DH0600/ 87 / 67 / 1.88

SPVW3: SPRING VALLEY2 WI : DH0500/ M / M / 0.43

Bow echo & MCS roll on:

The large and powerful storm that rolled through Minnesota Sunday evening is called an MCS, or mesoscale convective system. These systems have wider coverage and longer lives that your average batch of thunderstorms, and can travel for hundreds of miles and last for days.

Note the system this morning as it continues to produce damaging winds and severe T-Storms warnings as it races through Madison and Chicago.

Severe storms rumble into Chicago Monday morning.

Free A/C through Wednesday:

The cool front responsible for triggering Sunday's storms is pumping in fresher and cooler Canadian air into Minnesota.

GOES 1km visible satellite shows clouds pushing south of Minnesota. Yellow "streamlines" depict wind flow, with drier air pushing in.

Dew points behind the front are falling into the comfy 50s, and we'll feel that drier air as the day wears on. There will be about half as much moisture in the air by late today compared to (70s dew points) Sunday.

The transfusion of cooler direr more breathable air will last through Wednesday.

Summer 2011: Hot so far:

Friday is July 15th, and that means roughly we're at the halfway point of meteorological summer Friday!

So far summer 2011 is running significantly warmer than average.

+1.1 degrees in June in the metro

+6.6 degrees in July so far

92 degrees Sunday at MSP Airport

8 days at or above 90 degree days so far

13 the average # of days at or above 90 in the Twin Cities each summer

Heat returns by Friday:

After the pleasantly cooler & drier respite from heat & humidity this week, a big ridge of high pressure will build north again into Minnesota by Friday.

Look for temps to soar back well into the 90s, and dew points to surge into the tropical 70s again by the weekend.

The GFS model is hinting that the large ridge of high pressure in the upper atmosphere may be a semi permanent feature through the rest of July. Translation? It's going to be hot & humid for most of the rest of the month.

After a reluctantly cool spring, it's a real summer in Minnesota this year!

PH