2012: Warmest in 25 years so far in MN; Near 90 for the next week?

13th straight month of above average temps at MSP Airport

25 years: 1st half of 2012 is the warmest in Minnesota since 1987

(Details from MPR & UM Climatologist Dr. Mark Seeley below)

Fun with 90? String of near 90 degree days for the next week?

Breathing easier - Minnesota's air quality improves dramatically

"Schwitz Factor" plummets - Dew points crash over 20 degrees in 11 hours

"In fact the first half of this year has been warmer than any year since 1987."

MPR's Mark Seeley in this week's Weather Talk post

2012: Warmest year in 25 years so far in Minnesota

Hot enough for ya?

July 1st is halftime for the year of 2012. MPR & UM climate specialist Dr. Mark Seeley sends word to the weather lab this has been the warmest 1st half of any year since 1987.

Where were you in '87 when...

-The Twin Cities "Superstorm" dumped 11" of rain n the southwest metro

Source: NWS/MN Climate Working Group

-The Twins won the World Series

-Rudy Perpich as Governor of Minnesota

-The events depicted in the movie "Fargo" took place

-The Minnesota Vikings went 8-7 in the "replacement" season

-A gallon of gas cost .89 cents!

Warmest "year" on record too!

If you look back at the last year from July1st, 2011 though the end of this month, this is the warmest year on record by the measure of so called "Heating Degree Days" or HDD.

Again, an excerpt from Mark Seeley's Friday Weather Talk post.

Topic: New Record Low Annual Heating Degree Days for the Twin Cities

The Minnesota State Climatology Office noted this week as the annual Heating Degree Day (HDD) season (July 1 to June 30) comes to an end, that 2011-2012 brought a new record low number for HDD with only 5852. The previous record low value was 6611 recorded in 2005-2006. HDD are calculated using the mean daily temperature when it falls below a base of 65 degrees F. Thus on a day with a mean daily temperature value (maximum + minimum/2) of 50 F, the HDD value would be 15. These are accumulated daily as an index for energy use to heat homes and commercial buildings.

I further crunched some numbers for comparison.

5852 - new record low HDD for the past year

25% - savings in home heating costs vs. average

( 7823 HDD in 121 years of HDD records)

36% - savings vs. the coldest year (9082 HDD) on record in 1903-'04.

Bottom line? The last 12 months have been the warmest on record for Minnesota. The Twin Cities average temps have been comparable to living in Omaha, Nebraska for the past year!

Source: Twin Cities NWS

Get used to 90 degrees:

The overall weather pattern looks to hold for the next week. That means temps within a few degrees of 90 for the next week in the metro and most of southern Minnesota, with 80s up north.

Here's a preview.

Twin Cities quick look forecast:

Source: Twin Cities NWS

Duluth & North Shore quick look forecast:

Source: Duluth NWS

Dew points will remain in the comfy 50s through Friday, but will rise into the 60s this weekend.

PH