Steamy Wednesday, Thursday thunder threat

Minnesota summers are like a blockbuster movie debut at your local theater. They shine brightly, but for a limited time only.

The Dog Days of August roll on this week with another steamy day Wednesday. We make another run at 90 degrees in a summer that has delivered our share of hot days. Dew points remain in the semi-tropical upper 60s to near 70 degrees range. The next front, and there' always a next front, arrives Thursday with another thunder threat. Friday's cool front brings another glorious start to the weekend.

Lather, rinse, repeat. It's summer in Minnesota.

Steamy Wednesday

We've logged 11 days at or above 90 degrees this year at MSP Airport. Wednesday could be day number 12. High approach 90 from the Twin Cities west Wednesday afternoon. The core of heat centers on Pierre, South Dakota where temps may approach 100.

Thursday thunder

Wednesday looks dry in the Twin Cities and eastern Minnesota. But the next frontal assault brews storms in the Dakotas and western Minnesota Wednesday. The front sweeps through with thunder chances Thursday for the Twin Cities. The cool front kicks through on Friday, with a much cooler and more comfortable air mass. Free AC arrives by Friday.

Wednesday will be the hottest day of the next week or so. Thursday is our best shot at rainfall in the next week. Here's the 15-day meteogram from Custom Weather.

Overall the next 6-10 days favor warmer than average air across the Upper Midwest. Here's NOAA's 6-10 day temperature outlook.

Looks like summer to me.

Climate Cast solutions round-table

We had a wide-ranging discussion on MPR's Climate Cast Tuesday morning. Our amazing guests covered a lot of ground on emerging solutions to climate change. If you're interested, it's worth a listen.