4th of July weather bliss, ‘Summer Glory Index’ update

Timing is everything. 

That tried and true saying applies in life and in weather. As we celebrate our independence as a nation this weekend, we can also celebrate near perfect weather conditions across Minnesota and the Upper Midwest.

High and dry

You just can't draw it up any better for a holiday weekend. Lazy high pressure loiters over Minnesota and the Great Lakes this weekend. Sunny skies, mild temps and comfortable humidity levels. We must be leading righteous weather lives around these parts.

A few scattered T-showers may leak into northern Minnesota this weekend. White over southern Minnesota gives way to red and blue to the south as heavy rainfall targets the central Plains this 4th of July weekend.

Heavy rains likely create flood issues in Kansas and Missouri.

NOAA's NAM 4 km model tracks the heavy rains spreading east from Colorado into Kansas and Missouri this weekend. Localized flooding could make national news this weekend.

Heat returns next week

A sticky tropical air mass oozes north from Minnesota through the eastern half of the nation later next week. Your local bank thermometer will likely flash 90 degrees by next Thursday.

Summer Glory Index: Pretty good June

June was a very pleasant month, but not quite as "Minnesota nice" as last June.

Here's an update on the "Summer Glory Index" from Kenny Blumenfeld and the great staff at the Minnesota Climate Working Group.

The results are in, and June 2016, though occasionally quite lovely, was no June 2015.

The month ended with 665.7 points on the Summer Glory Index (SGI), making it the 24th nicest June out of 114 on record. This otherwise respectable score is of course nowhere near the record-topping 905.5 points earned by June 2015.

So, what was the difference between June 2015 and June 2016?

Basically, it all comes down to a handful of less-than-ideal days that last June avoided but that this June fully embraced. For instance, in June 2015 only one calendar day in the Twin Cities reached 90 degrees, and there were no 70-degree-plus low temperatures, no 70-degree-plus evening dew point readings, and no calendar days with at least an inch of precipitation. By contrast, this June had six days with some combination of those conditions, each of which cut into the monthly SGI totals.

Even with those six inglorious days, however, this June was still significantly more pleasant than the average June, and was substantially more tolerable than June of 1933, when scorching heatwaves (including 17 days with high temperatures of at least 90 degrees) led to a total of just 56 SGI points for the month!

Those of us in the broadcast meteorology profession are very grateful to Kenny, Pete Boulay and Greg Spoden for the excellent work they do at the Minnesota DNR Climate office.

Thanks guys!

Climate stories

Thomson Reuters tracks top 500 greenhouse gas producers: The Paris agreements on climate change are a milestone in setting goals for keeping earth below the increasingly dangerous 2C warming threshold. But how do individual companies track their emissions going forward?

Thomson Reuters released a detailed report this week in Sustainability tracking the world's 500 largest businesses. Some good news here, some companies are actually showing growth and reducing emissions at the same time. (Full disclosure: I was asked to provide some brief climate change numbers as part of this report.)

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27 June 2016

New York — Thomson Reuters today released its latest Global 500 Greenhouse Gas Performance 2010-2015: 2016 Report on Trends – revealing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions data from many of the world’s 500 largest businesses (Global 500).

These businesses currently represent roughly 28% of the world’s GDP and collectively emitted 10% of the world’s greenhouse-gas emissions over the last five years. Key findings in this report indicate a decoupling between economic performance and emissions output in some firms.  Revenues for the Global 500 grew roughly 5% over a four-year period, while emissions increased by 1%.   Many of the largest emitters have yet to achieve decoupling of emissions with growth, however.

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