Monday heat; Major cold front; Growing frost threat Thursday?
Get ready for another ride on the Minnesota weather roller coaster. This time we're at the top of the hill ready to race down into the valley!
Steamy Monday:
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Bank thermometers will flash 90 in much of southern Minnesota Monday, including the Twin Cities metro. A warm southerly flow will boost temps. The record high at MSP is 94 Monday. I don't think we'll get there, but it looks like a good effort.
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Season's strongest cold front Tuesday:
What are all these blue lines on the weather maps?
The cold front will sail through Minnesota by late Monday night, and you'll notice the difference by Tuesday morning. Temperatures will crash as much as 50 degrees in parts of Minnesota in under 72 hours...from 90 Monday afternoon into the 30s by Thursday morning.
High may not climb out of the 50s in Minnesota Wednesday and Thursday.
Growing frost threat by Thursday:
The season's first frost may come a tad early for Minnesotans this year.
The center of our unusually cold high pressure system will set up right over Minnesota Thursday morning. Light winds and clear skies will create the perfect conditions for frost, and there is a threat for frosty lawns, gardens and rooftops from the Twin Cities north and east Thursday morning.
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If we hit 32 at MSP Airport Thursday morning, it would be a full 3 weeks earlier than the average date of October 7th!
Summery weather returns?
There is hope for those of you who want a return to summery weather. Temperature should approach 70 again by next weekend, and there are signs that we could see summer like warmth push north into Minnesota again by the weekend of September 24th. Highs near 80 may not be done just yet in Minnesota!
Bright Harvest Moon!
Who left the light on last night?
The bright harvest Moon lit up the night in Minnesota this weekend. This year's Harvest Moon was full at 4:27 am Monday morning.
The Harvest Moon is defined as the full moon closest to the Autumnal Equinox, which happens on September 23rd this year,
An oddity of the earth's orbit makes the harvest Moon rise only about 20 minutes later each night, versus 40 or 50 minutes on other full moons. The extra long evening light helps farmers complete the grain harvest.
USA: 2nd warmest summer on record!
Now that was a hot summer!
The numbers are in, and it turns out this was the second hottest summer on record for the USA since records began in 1895.
74.5 degrees: USA average temp this summer (2nd warmest on record)
74.6 degrees: USA average temps in 1936 (hottest summer on record)
86.8 degrees: average summer temperature in Texas (hottest summer of any state ever on record!)
If you average up all the highs & lows this summer in the USA, you come up with 74.5 degrees.
A prolonged heat wave cooked the southern USA. Texas, Oklahoma, New Mexico and Louisiana all recorded their hottest summer on record.
Texas recorded the hottest summer on record of any state ever in the USA in 2011!
Enjoy the summer heat today...and get ready for big changes as the week rolls on.
PH