A Hot June 9th:
Tuesday, June 9th brought southerly winds, plenty of
sunshine and the warmest temperatures across the state since July of last
year. Over 50 Minnesota climate stations reported daily high temperatures
of 90°F or greater, topped by 99°F at a few locations. Some communities
tied or set new high temperature records, including:
99°F at Madison
99°F at Madison
98F at Browns Valley
97°F at Marshall
96°F at Minnesota City Dam
96°F at La Crosse, WI
95°F at Sioux Falls, SD (tied record)
93°F at Rochester (tied record)
Large hail and thunderstorm winds up to 60 mph came with a few thunderstorm cells on Tuesday, June 9th as well. Portions of Stevens, Lincoln, Yellow Medicine, and Sherburne Counties reported hail of one inch diameter or greater, and wind gusts over 60 mph were reported from Murray and Stearns Counties.
An odd spike in evening dew point occurred at both St Paul and Red Wing about 7pm in the evening. Following brief showers in both communities the dew point soared to 70°F at the University of Minnesota St Paul Campus, and climbed to 69°F at Red Wing along the Mississippi River, making the outside air briefly feel like a steam bath. These values were close to record high dew points for the date and occurred near the time of the collapse of the daily boundary layer in the atmosphere when the vertical mixing depth begins to shrink, so more water vapor is held in the air closer to the Earth’s surface.
97°F at Marshall
96°F at Minnesota City Dam
96°F at La Crosse, WI
95°F at Sioux Falls, SD (tied record)
93°F at Rochester (tied record)
Large hail and thunderstorm winds up to 60 mph came with a few thunderstorm cells on Tuesday, June 9th as well. Portions of Stevens, Lincoln, Yellow Medicine, and Sherburne Counties reported hail of one inch diameter or greater, and wind gusts over 60 mph were reported from Murray and Stearns Counties.
An odd spike in evening dew point occurred at both St Paul and Red Wing about 7pm in the evening. Following brief showers in both communities the dew point soared to 70°F at the University of Minnesota St Paul Campus, and climbed to 69°F at Red Wing along the Mississippi River, making the outside air briefly feel like a steam bath. These values were close to record high dew points for the date and occurred near the time of the collapse of the daily boundary layer in the atmosphere when the vertical mixing depth begins to shrink, so more water vapor is held in the air closer to the Earth’s surface.
Retirement Congratulations to Dave Ruschy:
After roughly 40 years with the University of Minnesota as an expert in environmental measurement instrumentation and computer technology, Dave Ruschy from Fairmont, MN is retiring. Dave has been a foundational member of the climate science group and the technology services group at the University of Minnesota, as a staff member of the Department of Soil, Water, and Climate. He was initially hired by Dr. Don Baker when he was a student back in the 1970s. He has helped keep the St Paul Climate Observatory going for over 50 years, and rescued or preserved computer equipment for faculty and staff literally thousands of times over the past 40 years. We will miss you Dave, and still hope to see you from time to time. Thanks for your terrific service.
Weekly Weather Potpourri:
The Science Museum of Minnesota will be hosting a program
titled "Confronting Climate Change" on June 16, 2015 beginning at
7pm. It is a free public forum co-sponsored by Fresh Energy and Climate Generation.
Keynote speakers include Dr. Ben Santer, from Lawrence Livermore National Lab
and Dr. Frank Niebold, Climate Education Coordinator at NOAA. Will Steger
will also give a presentation and there will be discussion by a group of
panelists that include Dr. Tracy Twine, U of MN Dept of Soil, Water, and
Climate; Pat Hamilton, Science Museum; and J. Drake Hamilton of Fresh
Energy. I would encourage you to attend.
In the Arabian Sea, Tropical Cyclone Ashobaa was bringing
high winds, heavy rains, and 10 foot waves to the coastal regions of Oman this
week. It was expected to dissipate over the weekend. Elsewhere a tropical
storm formed off the south coast of Mexico in the Eastern Pacific Ocean.
Tropical Storm Carlos is forecast to become a hurricane over the weekend and
bring heavy rainfalls and high surf to the southern Mexican coast.
The
weekly update from the U.S. Drought Monitor shows that there is no longer any moderate
drought in the state of Minnesota, the first time this has been the case since
October 28th of last year. Only a few drier than normal areas are noted (as depicted on the map).
Over the weekend and earlier this week
California benefited from some rare June rainfall, with some areas reporting
between a half inch and an inch of rain. However officials in that state
said this amount of rainfall will not affect the ongoing drought in that state.
NOAA scientists put together a special video feature celebrating World Ocean Day and
it is available online this week. One of the themes is how to reduce the
waste (trash) that finds its way into the oceans, and or along the coastal
landscapes.
One
of the features on Climate.gov this week is an article about how El Nino and La Nina events impact on spring tornadoes and hailstorms. The researchers
show a series of maps to illustrate how the patterns of severe weather are
affected by the position of the jet stream across North America. It makes
for an interesting read.
University of New South Wales in Australia published a new paper this week which finds
that with warmer temperatures prevailing across that country the intensity of
heavy rainfalls has increased and become more common. In the study of
over 40,000 storms covering a period of 30 years, the research engineers found
the risks of flash flooding from these intense rainfall events has been
increasing and will likely continue in that direction.
MPR Listener Question:
Since all of the drought has been erased from the Minnesota landscape this spring, can you tell us which areas of the state have recorded the most precipitation so far this year?
Answer:
In the context of year-to-date climate, I would not say that
there are places in the state having an excessively wet year. Most of the
surplus rainfall for the year so far was recorded in the month of
May. By region within the state some of the wettest places include:
Northwestern Minnesota: Moorhead with 10.46 inches (115 percent of normal)
North Central Minnesota: Cass Lake with 12.10 inches (126 percent of normal)
Northeast Minnesota: Grand Portage with 11.58 inches (107 percent of normal)
Western Minnesota: Montevideo with 11.59 inches (120 percent of normal)
Eastern Minnesota: North Branch with 11.81 inches (119 percent of normal)
Southwestern Minnesota: Lake Wilson with 12.10 inches (106 percent of normal)
Southern Minnesota: La Crescent with 16.17 inches (117 percent of normal)
Northwestern Minnesota: Moorhead with 10.46 inches (115 percent of normal)
North Central Minnesota: Cass Lake with 12.10 inches (126 percent of normal)
Northeast Minnesota: Grand Portage with 11.58 inches (107 percent of normal)
Western Minnesota: Montevideo with 11.59 inches (120 percent of normal)
Eastern Minnesota: North Branch with 11.81 inches (119 percent of normal)
Southwestern Minnesota: Lake Wilson with 12.10 inches (106 percent of normal)
Southern Minnesota: La Crescent with 16.17 inches (117 percent of normal)
Twin Cities Almanac for June 9th:
The average MSP high temperature for this date is 78 degrees
F (plus or minus 7 degrees F standard deviation), while the average low is 58
degrees F (plus or minus 7 degrees F standard deviation).
MSP Local Records for June 12th:
MSP weather records for this date include: highest daily maximum temperature of 95 degrees F in 1956; lowest daily maximum temperature of 51 degrees F in 1929: lowest daily minimum temperature is 39 degrees F in 1877; highest daily minimum temperature of 72 F in 1920; record precipitation of 2.35 inches 1899; and no snowfall has been recorded on this date.
Average dew point for June 12th is 55 degrees F, with a maximum of 74 degrees F in 1961 and a minimum of 30 degrees F in 1969.
All-Time State Records for June 9th:
The state record high temperature for this date is 102 degrees F at Crookston (Polk County) in 1893. The state record low temperature for this date is 23 degrees F at Remer (Cass County) in 1985. State record precipitation for this date is 8.00 inches at Minnesota City (Winona County) in 1899; and there has not been any snowfall on this date.
Past Weather Features:
A rare June frost was reported across central and northern
Minnesota in 1877. On the morning of the 12th a number of climate
stations, including Fort Ripley reported low temperatures in the 20s F.
A 2-day Heat Wave dominated much of Minnesota over June 12-13, 1893 bringing 90°F temperatures or greater to over 30 communities. Moorhead and Crookston saw afternoon temperatures over 100 degrees F, while Montevideo reached an afternoon high of 95°F and the nighttime low never fell below 76°F. Fortunately a cooling rain brought temperatures back to seasonal normals on June 14th.
Severe thunderstorms erupted across portions of southern Minnesota over June 11-13, 1899 bringing rainfall amounts from 6 to 10 inches. Flash flooding occurred on the Root and Zumbro Rivers and many crops were washed away by erosion in Mower, Winona, and Houston Counties. All of the flooding in Minnesota was overshadowed by a destructive F-5 tornado (winds greater than 260 mph) which leveled New Richmond, WI demolishing over 300 buildings and killing 117 people.
On June 12, 1917 the ice pack finally broke up and disappeared out of Duluth Harbor, after the long and cold winter of 1916-1917. This remains to this date one of the latest sightings of ice in the harbor.
June 12, 1985 brought frosts to northeastern sections of the state, where Tower reported a morning low of 26°F and Virginia just 30°F. Scattered ground frost was reported around southern Minnesota.
A 2-day Heat Wave dominated much of Minnesota over June 12-13, 1893 bringing 90°F temperatures or greater to over 30 communities. Moorhead and Crookston saw afternoon temperatures over 100 degrees F, while Montevideo reached an afternoon high of 95°F and the nighttime low never fell below 76°F. Fortunately a cooling rain brought temperatures back to seasonal normals on June 14th.
Severe thunderstorms erupted across portions of southern Minnesota over June 11-13, 1899 bringing rainfall amounts from 6 to 10 inches. Flash flooding occurred on the Root and Zumbro Rivers and many crops were washed away by erosion in Mower, Winona, and Houston Counties. All of the flooding in Minnesota was overshadowed by a destructive F-5 tornado (winds greater than 260 mph) which leveled New Richmond, WI demolishing over 300 buildings and killing 117 people.
On June 12, 1917 the ice pack finally broke up and disappeared out of Duluth Harbor, after the long and cold winter of 1916-1917. This remains to this date one of the latest sightings of ice in the harbor.
June 12, 1985 brought frosts to northeastern sections of the state, where Tower reported a morning low of 26°F and Virginia just 30°F. Scattered ground frost was reported around southern Minnesota.
Outlook:
Near normal temperatures over the weekend with increasing cloudiness later on Saturday and a chance for showers and thunderstorms. Chance of widely scattered showers and thunderstorms on Sunday as well with slightly warmer temperatures. Mostly sunny Monday and Tuesday with pleasant temperatures, then a chance for showers and thunderstorms by Wednesday and Thursday next week.
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