A beautiful Friday; plenty of weekend sunshine

If you don't like hot and humid weather, you'll enjoy today and tomorrow.

Dew point temperatures creep up a bit by Sunday afternoon, but tropical dew points in the 70s don't return until Monday.

Our air conditioners get a break today and Saturday as a high-pressure system lingers over the upper Midwest:

rt729allfronts

Highs today will be mostly in the 70s over Minnesota, but we could touch 80 in the Twin Cities:

Political Coverage Powered by You

Your gift today creates a more connected Minnesota. MPR News is your trusted resource for election coverage, reporting and breaking news. With your support, MPR News brings accessible, courageous journalism and authentic conversation to everyone - free of paywalls and barriers. Your gift makes a difference.

rt729h2

Saturday will feature some lower 80s over southern Minnesota, with 70s elsewhere:

rt730h2

Most of Minnesota will see highs in the lower 80s on Sunday, but temps may stay in the 70s close to the north shore of Lake Superior.

Steamy next week

Heat and humidity will be on the rise early next week. We'll see dew points in the lower 70s and high temperatures in the upper 80s to lower 90s from Monday through Wednesday.

Occasional showers and thunderstorms are also expected  next week.

National Weather Service forecast models show that most of Minnesota will see some measurable rainfall between Monday morning and Wednesday morning:

rt729r
NOAA

Exact rainfall amounts are impossible to predict that far in advance, but the general area of measurable rainfall looks impressive.

Extreme weather

Friday is the anniversary of the highest official temperature ever recorded in Minnesota. It hit 115 degrees on July 29, 1917 in the west-central Minnesota town of Beardsley!

The Minnesota State Climatology Office has posted many more Minnesota weather records here.

You can impress people at your weekend party with this weather nugget: the biggest 24-hour temperature change ever recorded in Minnesota was 71 degrees.  It occurred on April 3, 1982 in Lamberton, when the temperature went from 78 degrees to 7 degrees!

Programming note:

You can hear my live weather updates at 7:35 a.m. and 4:35 p.m. each Saturday and Sunday on Minnesota Public Radio.