With high of 100 degrees, Labor Day weekend could be the hottest in years

Labor Day weekend is often seen as the last gasp of summer, and this year promises to be the hottest in years, with the mercury forecast to soar above 90 degrees for five straight days — and possibly reaching triple digits.

"You'll need more than a popsicle to keep cool this weekend!" the National Weather Service's Twin Cities office tweeted ahead of a five-day heat wave arriving Friday and expected to stay through Tuesday.

The high of 104 degrees on Sept. 10, 1931, marked the only time in more than 155 years of record-keeping that official thermometers in the Twin Cities registered a temperature above 100 degrees in September, according to the Minnesota State Climatology Office.

That also marked the warmest temperature ever at the State Fair when the extravaganza ran Sept. 5-12. The forecast high of 100 degrees on Sunday would make it the hottest day at the fair since 1931 and break the record for the warmest Sept. 3, which is 97 degrees set in 1925, the National Weather Service said.

Records could also be tied or broken on Monday.

But records or not, "it is going to be hot," said Brent Hewett, a meteorologist with the Weather Service's Chanhassen office.

Temperatures will begin their upward climb from the low 80s Thursday to the low 90s on Friday, the mid-90s on Saturday and then hover right around 100 degrees Sunday and Monday before dropping back to the low 90s on Tuesday.

The saving grace this time around is that it won't be like the steam bath that enveloped the state a few weeks ago, Hewett said.

"Thankfully it will be a drier heat," Hewett said, noting that dew points will be in the 50s and 60s. While it will still be muggy, "it will be far less tropical and [more] refreshing compared to the recent heat wave."

With five days at 90 or above on the horizon, the Twin Cities will break into the Top 10 list for most 90-degree days in a summer with more than 30, Hewett said. The most occurred in 1988 with 44 days at 90 or above.

While not unprecedented, the late-summer blast is impressive as days have become markedly shorter, Hewett said.

The 1931 State Fair remains the current record-holder for high temperatures, with readings of 104 and 99 degrees. Right behind is 1922, which saw the mercury touch 98 degrees twice. The third-warmest fair was in 2013, when there were a record six days with 90 degrees or warmer, according to Pete Boulay of the Minnesota State Climatology Office.

On the reverse, there were eight consecutive State Fairs from 2014 through 2022 — no fair in 2020 due to COVID-19 — with no 90-degree high temperatures. In 2019, high temperatures didn't hit 80.

Cooler weather in the low 80s is forecast to return on Wednesday. Until then, "take breaks, and drink lots of water," Hewett said. "Heat does take a toll on you."