Wet, Warm June Continues:
Despite the recent moderation, temperatures are continuing to average above normal this month. So far this June ranks among the 20 warmest historically on a statewide basis. Last week over Father’s Day weekend many Minnesota climate stations reported record high temperatures. Among those seeing record highs on June 15th were: MSP with 95°F, Amboy with 95°F, Granite Falls with 96°F, and Minnesota City with 91°F.
For Saturday, June 16th a few more high temperature records were set, including 97°F at Marshall, 95°F at St James, 94°F at Redwood Falls and Rosemount, and 93°F at Wells and Owatonna.
Sunday, June 17th brought a couple of more record highs as well with 92°F at Amboy and 91°F at Redwood Falls.
Record high dew points were abundant over Father’s Day weekend as well, ranging from the low to upper 70s F. Thanks to the high water vapor content, the Heat Index values across many parts of southern Minnesota soared and ranged from 95°F to 103°F. MSP set a new dew point record on June 16th with a reading of 78°F, and another new dew point record on the 17th with a reading of 75°F. You can read more on last weekend’s Heat Wave at the Minnesota State Climatology web site.
Last weekend also brought numerous thunderstorms to the state, and very heavy rains in some places. Many climate stations reported 3 to 5 inches of rain. Two Harbors reported a record 5.70 inches, Moose Lake a record 4.30 inches, and Leech Lake a record 3.10 inches on the 17th. Many climate stations in northwestern Wisconsin also recorded some record-setting rainfalls, including a multi-day total of over 15 inches at Drummond. With these rainfalls many climate stations in both Minnesota and Wisconsin have now received 6-10 inches of rain so far this month. New Ulm with over 10 inches of rain so far, reports the 3rd wettest June in history, surpassed only by 11.15 inches in 1925, and 14.05 inches in 2014.
Weekly Weather Potpourri:
This week NOAA features an article about the wildfires burning this month in Southwestern Colorado. These are related to the ongoing drought there, but also perhaps to climate change.The BBC Weather Centre features a nice video of noctilucent (night shining) clouds, the highest clouds in the Earth’s atmosphere. They are sometimes visible shortly after sunset, appearing as bluish, very high cirrus clouds.
FromScience Daily this week: In a new study in Science Advances, researchers at Columbia University describe a way to quickly sift through thousands of hours of field recordings to estimate when songbirds reached their breeding grounds on Alaska's North Slope. They trained an algorithm on a subset of the data to pick out bird song from wind, trucks and other noise, and estimate, from the amount of time the birds spent singing and calling each day, when they had arrived en masse.
In AGU EOS this week there is an interesting article about the measurement of soil moisture, an important attribute for agriculture that exhibits a very high degree of variability. New remote sensing technology is being applied to improve our measurements and spatial characterization.
MPR listener question:
Here just east of Mankato we have recorded almost 10 inches of rain so far this month. Can you tell us what the record for June is in this area of the state, and what is the maximum amount of rain ever in June for Minnesota?
Answer:
You are already in rare territory as it has rained a total of 10 or more inches in the Mankato area only 3 times during June since 1904 (1908, 1925, 2014). The all-time wettest was in 2014 when 13.21 inches fell. As for the all-time wettest June anywhere in the state, that was also in 2014 when Edgerton (Pipestone County) recorded 16.51 inches.
Twin Cities Almanac for June 22nd
The average MSP high temperature for this date is 81 degrees F (plus or minus 8 degrees F standard deviation), while the average low is 61 degrees F (plus or minus 7 degrees F standard deviation).MSP Local Records for June 22nd:
MSP records for this date include: highest daily maximum temperature of 98 degrees F in 1911; lowest daily maximum temperature of 57 degree F in 1906; lowest daily minimum temperature of 42 degrees F in 1960; highest daily minimum temperature of 75 degrees F in 1923; record precipitation of 2.12 inches in 1930. No snowfall has occurred on this date.
Average dew point for June 22nd is 56°F; the maximum dew point on this date is 80°F in 1983; and the minimum dew point on this date is 27°F in 1972.
All-time state records for June 22nd:
The all-time state high temperature for today's date is 107 degrees F at Canby (Yellow Medicine County) in 1988; the all-time state low for today's date is 20 degrees F at Kelliher (Beltrami County) in 2001. The all-time state record precipitation for this date is 5.42 inches at Itasca State Park (Clearwater County) in 1957. No snowfall has been reported on this date.
Past Weather Features:
About 4:00 pm on June 22, 1919 an F-5 (winds 261 mph) raced across Otter Tail County and leveled 400 buildings in Fergus Falls leaving "a vast acreage of kindling." The famous Lake Alice Grand Hotel was destroyed. The funnel traveled 20 miles on the ground and at times was 400 yards across. It injured 200 people and killed 57 others. It took Fergus Falls a decade to rebuild.
Strong thunderstorms brought heavy rain to many parts of central Minnesota over June 22-23, 1957. Several counties reported flooded roads as a result of 3-5 inches of rain. Some farm fields in Todd and Wadena counties were badly washed out.
1988 brought the hottest June 22nd in state history with over 20 climate stations reporting afternoon highs of 100°F or greater.
June 22, 1991 brought frost to many parts of northeastern Minnesota. Tower, Isabella, and Brimson all reported morning frosts.
Outlook:
Near normal temperatures over the weekend, with a chance for widely scattered showers in the west on Saturday and a more widespread chance on Sunday. Continued near normal temperatures next week with a chance for showers and thunderstorms later on Monday and into Tuesday, then drier Wednesday.
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