Metro Heat Warnings; Minnesota warms most in “new normals”

You can feel it in the air.

Summer heat and humidity are making a comeback. Temperatures and dew points are on the rise as a steamy tropical air mass surges north.

Check out the rise in dew point in Pipestone from the comfy 50s in the morning to a sticky tropical 70 degrees by Wednesday afternoon!

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Dew points on the rise in Pipestone, MN

Excessive Heat Warnings kick in for the metro at noon Thursday until 7am Friday. Heat index values between 100 and 106 degrees will make it feel oppressively (and dangerously) hot Thursday PM & evening.

Heat advisories are in effect for all of southern Minnesota.

URGENT - WEATHER MESSAGE

NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TWIN CITIES/CHANHASSEN MN

317 PM CDT WED JUN 29 2011

...HOT AND HUMID CONDITIONS EXPECTED THURSDAY...

.A HOT AND MUGGY AIR MASS WILL MOVE INTO THE AREA ON THURSDAY AND

CONTINUE INTO THE OVERNIGHT HOURS. HIGH TEMPERATURES IN THE LOWER

TO MID 90S ALONG WITH SURGING DEW POINTS EXPECTED TO CLIMB WELL

INTO THE 70S...WILL CREATE HEAT INDEX VALUES OVER 100 DEGREES

THURSDAY AFTERNOON AND EARLY EVENING. TEMPERATURES WILL REMAIN IN

THE 70S THROUGH MUCH OF THE OVERNIGHT. THE INNER DOWNTOWN AREAS

OF THE METRO WILL BE THE MOST SUSCEPTIBLE TO THE HOT AND HUMID

CONDITIONS.

MNZ060-062-300430-

/O.UPG.KMPX.EH.A.0001.110630T1700Z-110701T1200Z/

/O.NEW.KMPX.EH.W.0002.110630T1700Z-110701T1200Z/

HENNEPIN-RAMSEY-

INCLUDING THE CITIES OF...MINNEAPOLIS...ST. PAUL

317 PM CDT WED JUN 29 2011

...EXCESSIVE HEAT WARNING IN EFFECT FROM NOON THURSDAY TO 7 AM

CDT FRIDAY...

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN TWIN CITIES/CHANHASSEN HAS ISSUED

AN EXCESSIVE HEAT WARNING...WHICH IS IN EFFECT FROM NOON THURSDAY

TO 7 AM CDT FRIDAY. THE EXCESSIVE HEAT WATCH IS NO LONGER IN

EFFECT.

* TEMPERATURE...HIGHS IN THE 90S THURSDAY WITH A HEAT INDEX FROM

100 TO 106 IN THE AFTERNOON AND EARLY EVENING. HEAT INDEX

REMAINING ABOVE 75 DEGREES THROUGH EARLY FRIDAY MORNING.

* IMPACTS...THESE HOT AND HUMID CONDITIONS WILL LEAD TO A

HEIGHTENED RISK OF HEAT RELATED STRESS AND ILLNESSES. THIS

WILL BE ESPECIALLY TRUE FOR THE CENTRAL URBANIZED AREAS OF THE

TWIN CITIES METRO.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

AN EXCESSIVE HEAT WARNING MEANS THAT A PROLONGED PERIOD OF

DANGEROUSLY HOT TEMPERATURES WILL OCCUR. THE COMBINATION OF HOT

TEMPERATURES AND HIGH HUMIDITY WILL COMBINE TO CREATE A DANGEROUS

SITUATION IN WHICH HEAT ILLNESSES ARE LIKELY. DRINK PLENTY OF

FLUIDS...STAY IN AN AIR-CONDITIONED ROOM...STAY OUT OF THE SUN...

AND CHECK UP ON RELATIVES AND NEIGHBORS.

Heat Wave Safety Tips

Slow down. Strenuous activities should be reduced, eliminated, or rescheduled to the coolest time of the day. Individuals at risk should stay in the coolest available place, not necessarily indoors.

Dress for summer. Lightweight light-colored clothing reflects heat and sunlight, and helps your body maintain normal temperatures.

Put less fuel on your inner fires. Foods (like proteins) that increase metabolic heat production also increase water loss.

Drink plenty of water or other non-alcohol fluids. Your body needs water to keep cool. Drink plenty of fluids even if you don't feel thirsty. Persons who (1) have epilepsy or heart, kidney, or liver disease, (2) are on fluid restrictive diets or (3) have a problem with fluid retention should consult a physician before increasing their consumption of fluids.

Do not drink alcoholic beverages.

Do not take salt tablets unless specified by a physician.

Spend more time in air-conditioned places. Air conditioning in homes and other buildings markedly reduces danger from the heat. If you cannot afford an air conditioner, spending some time each day (during hot weather) in an air conditioned environment affords some protection.

Don't get too much sun. Sunburn makes the job of heat dissipation that much more difficult

Thankfully, the intense heat won't last. A weak but welcome cool front should drop humidity considerable Friday night and Saturday. It still looks plenty warm this weekend with temps near 90...but it will fell less humid as dew points drop from the 70s to the upper 50s by Saturday!

Minnesota shows biggest warming in new NOAA 30-Year averages:

Climate chnage theory and observations have long shown that in a warming planet, the amount of warming increases as you move north toward the poles.

The new NOAA 30-Year Averages set to be released Friday seems to be another strong piece of evidence in that direction. And Minnesota and Wisconsin appear to show the greatest increase in average temperatures in the Continental USA.

New 1981-2010 'normals' to be released this week

June 29, 2011

"According to the 1981-2010 normals to be released by NOAA's National Climatic Data Center (NCDC) on July 1, temperatures across the United States were on average, approximately 0.5 degree F warmer than the 1971-2000 time period.

Normals serve as a 30 year baseline average of important climate variables that are used to understand average climate conditions at any location and serve as a consistent point of reference. The new normals update the 30-year averages of climatological variables, including average temperature and precipitation for more than 7,500 locations across the United States. This once-a-decade update will replace the current 1971-2000 normals."

As I reported earlier this month, data shows the greatest warming is at night, and in winter.

The full report will be released Friday.

PH