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First truly sweaty summers day in Minneapolis. 81/64 currently. We’ve had a few days with a hotter air temp but the dews were upper 40s/50s at that time. Short lived, storms and a cold front tomorrow.

May 2024 finished with 5.81” of precipitation, and 2.9F above average in Minneapolis.

Scattered showers most of the day here. Temps bouncing between 64-66 all day. Looks like more organized rain is moving in to cap off a very wet month.

-10F > +90F I’ll die on this hill.

You are insane. 60s are ideal, but 70s are a win in the summer. Ring of fire is an added bonus.

Cooler summer, yes please. Anyone wishing for a hot and humid summer clearly doesn’t work outside for a living. Last year we were on day 3 of the first of many extended heat waves of the summer. None of that garbage in sight so far.

The northland sees frost and freezing temps in the summer months more often then you’d think. A quick google search reveals it dropped to 30 in Embarrass MN on 8/24/17, International Falls had a record low of 34 on 8/2/18, Seagull hit 32 and Hibbing 34 on 7/8/2021. Plenty more examples too.

About a half inch of precipitation today. Monthly total creeping towards 5” which was close to the JJA total during last summers severe drought. Official high of 67 today in Minneapolis.

Happy Memorial Day. Showers most of the morning here, temps are in the upper 50s but should surge into the 60s as the precipitation moves out this afternoon. Not the best day for boating but might try and catch the twins game later if it dries out in time.

P&C on weather.gov has bumped my backyard up to 70 on Monday. I’ll take this weather all summer.

Currently 54 and very breezy this evening. Looks like some patchy frost possible up north if the winds calm down. We’ve been sustained over 20mph and gusting over 40mph all afternoon. Cool weather on tap for the holiday weekend, in 2018 Memorial Day was the earliest 100 on record in the Twin Cities. This year we’ll probably stay in the 60s all day.

Garden variety here this morning. Time to flex the rain gear at work

Buddy of mine lives in Riverside not far from the Des Plaines River and the Cicadas are out in force from what he’s said.

2.11” yesterday. Lawn is looking lush.

After 3 summers of flash drought this pattern has been a welcome change. Hope it keeps up throughout the summer. 1.62” so far today, missed out on anything severe but first legit rumbles of thunder this year.

AQI around 180, a smelly nasty smoke filled evening. Wouldn’t want to go outside looking for the Aurora if it was right overhead.

Might have to kick the A/C on for the first time today if forecasted highs in the mid 80s comes to fruition. Been loving having the windows open for the past week. It also looks like wildfire smoke season begins today. Smokey skies expected to move in this afternoon. Edmonton has been dealing with thick smoke for a couple days now.

Tonight has been incredible. Went to the wildlife refuge near Zimmerman and saw the Aurora fill nearly the entire sky. Eventually it became a long E-W band parked overhead and just to the south of me. I’ve never seen such consistent and wide sky coverage before. Not the brightest I’ve ever seen but certainly the largest and most active. Getting to see it setup and dance directly overhead is breathtaking and jaw dropping. Just wish I had a good camera with me.

I’ll grab pictures, but my iPhone 8 will be potato quality compared to others.

Prepping for a short drive north to view the Aurora tonight. Looks like a very strong event is coming together. If I didn’t have two little ones I’d be heading up north of Duluth but I think an area near Cambridge MN will have to do.

0.27” here today. Jumped from the low 50s around noon to the low 60s as the sun came out. Twins game tomorrow with perfect weather.

April finished with 4.19” of precipitation which is well above normal, and much appreciated. We really needed it. There was only a T of snowfall. Time for my final winter grade. I’m going to give winter 23/24 a D grade. It was a record warm and very dry winter in Minnesota. However the front and back ends were punctuated by memorable snowfalls that saved the season from a solid F. The 2.3” on Halloween provided a memorable trick or treating experience, and those photos of my kid in the snow we will always cherish. The weeklong cold snap in January provided no snowfall but froze the lakes quite solid and saved the ice fishing and ski seasons from disaster. My local hill was open daily from early December to mid March. The surprise 7” Valentine’s Day snowstorm reminded everyone we still live in a winter weather climate. March is when things got interesting, precipitation began increasing and we bagged a 12” multi day snowfall that broke the doldrums of dryness we endured most of the cold season. Other stat padding events brought us up to 29.5” which is still well below normal but dampers the disaster that was DJF. Only around 50 days until they are getting shorter again.

Mid 40s and a rainy Sunday. 0.45” today with another batch moving in. Like many locations it’s been a wet April with 3.26” imby. The mature Swamp White Oak in our neighbors yard bloomed the other day.

Rain was a dud here today. Let’s see what tonight brings. Tornado Sirens blaring down in Des Moines.

I felt chilly last night around 10pm when the air temp dropped into the 70s. Amazing how quickly the body acclimates.