Storms rattle northern Minnesota, excessive heat warning continues
A bow echo traveled across portions of northern Minnesota last evening, downing trees and dumping heavy rain. The thrust of the storm picked up momentum near Bemidji and moved though Grand Rapids to near Duluth.
Storm reports from the Duluth NWS Office.
The National Weather Service has expanded the Excessive Heat Warning to cover southern Minnesota for today through Thursday.
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From the National Weather Service in Chanhassen this morning:
AN EXCESSIVE HEAT WARNING HAS BEEN ISSUED FOR ALL OF CENTRAL AND
SOUTHERN MINNESOTA AND WEST CENTRAL WISCONSIN THOUGH 10 PM
THURSDAY EVENING. THIS IS AN UPGRADE TO THE HEAT ADVISORY THAT
HAD BEEN IN PLACE OUTSIDE OF THE TWIN CITIES.
OVER THE NEXT THREE DAYS NEAR RECORD TEMPERATURES ARE EXPECTED
ACROSS THE ENTIRE AREA...WITH AFTERNOON HIGHS REACHING THE MID 90S TO 102 DEGREES. THESE TEMPERATURES COMBINED WITH DEWPOINTS IN THE
UPPER 60 TO AROUND 70 WILL RESULT IN APPARENT TEMPERATURES
REACHING THE 105 TO 110 DEGREE RANGE DURING THE AFTERNOON.
LITTLE RELIEF FROM THE HEAT IS EXPECTED TONIGHT AND WEDNESDAY NIGHT. LOWS ARE EXPECTED TO ONLY FALL TO BETWEEN 70 AND 75 ACROSS CENTRAL MINNESOTA INTO NORTHWEST WISCONSIN...WITH LOWS STAYING BETWEEN 75 AND 80 SOUTH OF THERE. WITHIN THE URBAN CENTER OF THE TWIN CITIES LOWS WEDNESDAY AND THURSDAY MORNING MAY FAIL TO FALL BELOW 80.
The outlined area in red is flash flood warning valid until 830 a.m. CDT. NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED THUNDERSTORMS LEFT VERY HEAVY RAINFALL ACROSS THE WARNED AREA. THE RADAR ESTIMATES THAT 2.5 TO 5 INCHES OF RAIN FELL ACROSS MUCH OF THE WARNED AREA. CENTRAL CROW WING COUNTY NORTH OF BRAINERD IS THE AREA WITH THE GREATEST ESTIMATED RAINFALL OF 4.5 TO 5 INCHES. THE RADAR ALSO ESTIMATES HIGH RAINFALL AROUND 4 INCHES IN EAST CENTRAL AITKIN COUNTY NEAR THE COMMUNITY OF LAWLER. (NWS Duluth 435 a.m. CDT)
Details on warnings, watches and advisories can be found here, from the NWS in Chanhassen.
Forecast temperatures for late afternoon from the Rapid Update Cycle initialized early this morning.
Source: College of Dupage and NWS
Hot temperatures will be experienced across much of the continental USA on the Fourth of July.
NAM 4 p.m. CDT on July 4th
Source: Twisterdata.com and NWS
Here's a snap shot of the radar shortly before 7 a.m. CDT.
Source: Weatherunderground.com
While most of you slept the automated equipment at the St. Paul Airort measured a wind gust to 54 mph at 341 a.m. CDT today. Source: NWS Chanhassen storm report.
Temperatures will slip back closer to seasonal normals by the weekend. Until then, pace yourself during this spell of heat and humidity. Heat Index values of 100 degrees or greater can be expected in southern Minnesota this afternoon. More details on the heat for the 4th of July in the afternoon blog.
Craig Edwards