A cool start to July, full moon tonight
July got off to a May-like start this morning. Areas of light rain cooled the air over parts of western and then southern Minnesota. Meanwhile, the Arrowhead was downright chilly. Some temperatures fell into the 30s:
Afternoon highs have been in the 60s and 70s, a bit below the normal high for the day which is 83 in the Twin Cities.
Visible satellite images have been showing the lingering clouds over southern Minnesota, fair weather cumulus clouds over northern Minnesota (note the hole in the clouds over Upper and Lower Red Lakes in northwestern Minnesota where the cooler lake water prevents air from rising and forming those clouds), and Canadian smoke visible mainly in the west.
Do you have friends or family vacationing in Europe? There is quite a heat wave working its way across the continent. Paris' Orly Airport hit 102 degrees today. London was in the mid 90s.
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Full moon on the rise
The sky show this evening will include not only the near-conjunction of Venus and Jupiter in the western sky after sunset, but also the full moon. The moon will rise at 8:31 p.m. in the Twin Cities and 8:43 p.m. way up north in International Falls, well before sunset. But it will be lovely once the sky darkens. For the precision-minded, the actual time of complete fullness will be 9:20 p.m.
Upcoming weather
The next couple days, Thursday and Friday, should be comfortable days with pleasant summer temperatures and dew points mainly in the 50s to low 60s. Scattered storms could cross southwestern Minnesota on Thursday, then the chance of showers and possible thunderstorms will shift to the northern part of the state on Friday.
Independence Day on Saturday looks to be warmer with many temperatures rising into the 80s. It should be a dry day just about statewide with just the possibility of a few isolated showers popping up in southwestern Minnesota in response to the heating of the day.
Sunday will be a warmer and more humid day. A warm front advancing from the northwest is likely to trigger thunderstorms on Sunday and Sunday night before they end in the southeastern corner Monday morning. Some of these storms could be strong, especially Sunday afternoon and evening.
The main areas of repeated heavy rain will track west and well to the south of Minnesota over the next five days.
