Hot, dry weather and wildfire smoke are elevating ground-level ozone across most of Minnesota today.

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Our seemingly endless September summer looks like it will last through the weekend. 

So far this month temperatures are running 5.5 degrees warmer than normal in the Twin Cities. International Falls is running 7.1 degrees warmer than normal this month.

You can see the record warmth on the temperature departure from the average map across Minnesota this month. 

The Twin Cities NWS office confirms that this is the warmest and driest September on record in the Twin Cities. We’ve managed just .06” of rainfall at MSP Airport this month. And it looks like the rest of the month will likely be dry. 

Highs through the upcoming weekend will run a good 10 to 15 degrees warmer than normal for this time of year. Our normal high temperature in the Twin Cities is now 69 degrees. Highs will push into the 80s by Thursday afternoon across much Minnesota.

The unseasonably warm weather continues through the upcoming weekend. Highs in the 80s will be common again from Friday through the weekend. 

Forecast models suggest we could still see high into the 70s on Monday. But a cold front looks likely to sweep across Minnesota late Monday. That should drop temperatures into the 60s and 70s for highs by next Tuesday.

But there are some signs we could warm up again by later next week.

NOAA’s outlooks still favor warmer-than-normal temperatures as we move deeper into October. 

Paul Huttner

Author

This is the warmest and driest September on record for much of Minnesota. 

NOAA

Temperature departure from average this month 

Warmest and driest September on record; warmth continues this week

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