Minnesota finishes up the hottest warm season on record

KMSP - I really hope you’ve enjoyed the “summer season” in Minnesota, because it doesn’t get much warmer. In fact, we just finished up the warmest May through mid-September on record, dating back to 1872.   Yes, the summer months are June, July, and August, but we also classify the warm season generally as the growing season in Minnesota… which most years is about May 1st through the end of September.  If that weren’t enough, we are now rounding out the 5th warmest first half of September on record as well.

If the current forecast holds, we will have experienced 7 consecutive days above 80° in the metro.  That’s one of the longest such streaks in September.  Granted, 7 in a row is pretty common, occurring 11 times before this year which is roughly once every decade.  But the interesting part is that a lot of these have been fairly recent.  Since 2000, we’ve had 7 consecutive days of 80°+ in the metro 3 times, with this year likely as the fourth.

But enjoy the heat while it lasts because this weekend is likely to be the last hurrah when it comes to summertime warmth as a cooling trend will take hold over the workweek. The long range forecast is showing average or slightly below average temperatures for the rest of the month which would keep a lot of our highs in the 60s.