Record June Chill

**(latest from Pete Boulay at the State Climatology Office....highs below 60 for 3 days/row, first time that's happened in June since 1951! There have been only 3 other years since 1872 where the temperature has stayed below 60 degree for 3 straight days in June, 1917, 1935 and 1937. The furnace may kick on again tonight, a couple more nights to make a fire in the fireplace before more typical, summerlike weather returns next week....string of 80s expected....finally!)


Weather Headlines

* 57 in the Twin Cities, more than 20 degrees cooler than average. Over 1" of rain at Redwood Falls and Rochester, Twin Cities rainfall amounts average close to .50", not quite enough to pull us out of a moderate drought, but a step in the right direction.

* June temperatures running 6-7 degrees cooler than average, to date.

* Some sun today, milder than yesterday. 20-35% of Minnesota will experience a PM shower or thundershower.

* Dry most of Wednesday, another round of showers bubbles up Thursday, potential for .20 to .30" of additional rain.

* Slow warming trend extends into the weekend: low to mid 70s Saturday, mid to upper 70s Sunday. Most of the weekend looks dry right now.

* A few 80-degree highs return next week, when it will finally start to feel like summer again.


Vaisala own's the USA's premiere lightning detection network. Every lightning strike gives off an electromagnetic burst of charged particles, which can be detected, and then triangulated to calculate exactly where the bolt struck. This is a pay service, but the company makes 30 minute old lightning data available at no charge to the public. This is a helpful tool, but because of the significant delay don't count on this map to show you real-time lightning strikes. As of midnight last night there were over 38,000 cloud to ground strikes across the USA. To see the very latest image (again, delayed by 30 minutes) click here.

Courtesy of the National Weather Service, here are the predicted highs for northern and central Minnesota for Saturday, well up into the 70s across just about the entire region. The map immediately above shows predicted wind speed & direction. Winds are forecast to be blowing from the southeast at 5-10 mph, with a few gusts as high as 15 mph. possible.

For the latest (graphical) forecast for any region of Minnesota, including predicted highs, cloud cover, dew points, winds, etc click here, choose the day you're interested in, then hover your computer's mouse over the parameter you wish to see. The forecast will pop up before your eyes. Pretty cool.


Paul's Outlook

Today: Partly sunny, a little milder. A brief shower or T-shower can't be ruled out by mid afternoon. Winds: SW/S 5-15. High: 65

Tonight: Stray evening shower, then clearing and cool for early June. Low: 50

Wednesday: Damp start, then intervals of sun. High: 68

Thursday: More clouds, unsettled, a few showers, possible thunder. High: 72

Friday: Partly cloudy, mild and dry. High: 75

Saturday: A mix of clouds and sun, slightly cooler than average. Winds: SE 10-15. High: 76

Sunday: Fading sun, warmer. Slight chance of late-day T-storms, mainly far northern MN. High: 79

Monday: Hazy sun, more noticeable humidity. High: near 80

Tuesday: Clouds roll in - risk of a T-storm or two. High: 77