Sunny and milder days ahead

Now there's a headline Minnesotans can appreciate.

Our forecast shifts into Chamber of Commerce mode the next few days as low pressure pulls away into eastern Canada. Minnesota will be the beneficiary of an elongated lazy ridge of sunny dry high pressure into Thursday. Explore Minnesota would be proud.

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NOAA

Lighter winds, more sun and milder temperatures make for a spectacular forecast into Thursday. Temperatures push 70 degrees again in the metro Tuesday as a milder air mass drifting north occupies a bigger chunk of Minnesota real estate. Cool blue hues linger near the Great Lakes.

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NOAA

Comfy dew points in the 40s and 50s linger this week until we approach the weekend. Moisture gradually increases as we hit the first few days of the Minnesota State Fair.

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Right now, Thursday and Sunday look like the best two days of the opening four-day span for the fair.

Wrap around

Here's one more look at the wrap around from Monday's departing low pressure system. The back edge of the stratocumulus cloud deck wavers over the west metro as the larger system spins over Lake Superior.

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NOAA via College of Dupage

Danny done; Erika next?

Hurricane Danny is history after running into dry air and unfavorable (likely El Nino driven) wind shear in the Caribbean as expected.

Next up? Invest 98, which has a 90 percent chance of developing into Tropical Storm Erika according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

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NOAA

Meanwhile in the Pacific...

Katrina 10 years after

It's been 10 years since the devastating U.S. hurricane season of 2005.

katrina
The most infamous storm in U.S. history, Hurricane Katrina carved a path of destruction from Miami to New Orleans, and up the Eastern United States. The storm reached a maximum intensity of Category 5 status, with 175 mph sustained winds. Hurricane Katrina made landfall in the morning of August 29, 2005. This infrared satellite imagery shows the storm’s intensity: white is the most intense, followed by red, green, and blue. NOAA

10 years ago Saturday Katrina came ashore in Louisiana. What have we learned since then? Here's an interesting perspective on that question from NOAA.

Coastal community resilience: progress made, lessons still to learn.

Conversations about coastal community resilience have changed tremendously in the past decade. Before Katrina, many people considered hurricanes, tsunamis, and other hazardous weather events as trials that happened to someone else.

But the trilogy of storms in 2005 — Katrina, Rita, Wilma — started a marked change in perception, as the possibility of real catastrophe and devastation was realized. Sandy, in 2013, drove home the point even further, highlighting the deadly combination of an increasing population coupled with the increasing strength and reach of tropical storms.

And for those who escaped the eye of a storm, nuisance flooding, which is also on the rise, taxed the infrastructure and coffers of hundreds of communities — including such major coastal cities as Norfolk, Charleston, and Miami.

July global heat record

July was the hottest month ever recorded globally.

July 2015
NOAA

But is anybody listening at the cable nets?