Wednesday night thunder, then hot and muggy

How I savor these last few days of early June weather bliss.

Pleasantly warm sunny days. Fresh dry breezes. Still no major mosquito outbreaks. Long daylight. Glowing twilight in the northwest sky until 10 pm.

Wednesday night's warm front may mark a turning point in our summer weather. The leading edge of a hotter, and much more humid air mass bubbles north in the wee hours Thursday morning. Thunder claps and downpours may awaken you as summer's greeting. By Friday afternoon, you'll long for those pleasantly cool days of early June.

Where's the nearest beach?

First, we enjoy a spectacular weather Wednesday. Highs in the upper 70s feel perfect in the metro. The western heat bubble edges closer as 90 degree heat pushes in from the southwest.

The inbound warm front pushes northward Thursday.

It's not the heat, it's the dew point

The one weather number you should watch in summer? The dew point. Dew point values drive human comfort, and AC demand. You'll feel anything above 60 degrees. 65 and you're sweating.

70+? Welcome to Guam.

Dew point hit the muggy 65 degree mark Thursday in the metro and remain in the sticky range until Sunday. Dew points peak at or above 70 degrees Friday.

Time to trot out those tried and true heat safety tips.

ECMWF models suggest a weak cool front may temper the heat a little slightly this weekend. Scattered storms may pop early Thursday. Stronger storms may erupt Friday night into early Saturday morning along the front. Monday may feature heavy rainfall potential.

NOAA guidance paints some 1" to 2" rainfall totals across southern Minnesota in the next 7 days.

The longer range upper air outlooks suggest summer is here to stay.

Climate stories from the twitterverse...

We have metrics on how we are changing the chemistry of the atmosphere. We just hit new record highs on CO2 concentration at Mauna Loa.

The lack of sea ice in the Arctic continues to astound.

and

Trouble down under.