Persistent Warm-Up in Store: It appears that after near normal temperatures this week a persistent warming pattern will prevail deep into June. On Tuesday, May 23 Morris, Elbow Lake, Madison, and Moorhead all hit an afternoon high temperature of 90°F, the first reports of 90°F temperature since April 12-13. With the strong warming trend starting this weekend, I am sure more 90°F temperatures will be on the way over the next couple of weeks, promoting much more rapid growth of crops in agricultural fields, and garden crops as well. Be sure to pay attention to watering the garden as the outlook favors drier than normal weather over the next two weeks as well. Up on the Roof: During the infancy of the National Weather Service in the late 19th century, observational networks were established and maintained by the U.S. Army Signal Service. Guidelines were quite stringent for locating instruments in suitable exposures, maintaining and calibrating instruments and filing reports. Failure ...