Douglas: 80s continue, with more rain chances

By Todd Nelson, filling in for Douglas:

I know the calendar says September, but it sure doesn’t feel like it. Does Aug-tember work for everyone? Our string of 80s continues this week with summerlike humidity. Note that our average high in the Twin Cities is 73 degrees. Our average last 80-degree day typically doesn’t occur until Oct. 1. Our latest 80-degree day was on Halloween back in 1950. On the other hand, 90-degree days are harder to come by. The average last 90-degree day occurs on Aug. 28, but we saw 90s through Oct. 10 back in 1928.

We’ve been stuck in a very stagnant weather pattern over the past couple of weeks, but that looks to change over the next five days. An upper-level ridge sitting overhead, responsible for our warm and mostly dry weather, will begin to break down as a large trough of low pressure moves in late week. Long-range models suggest a potentially wet (or wetter) weekend ahead, but it’s too early to get excited.

In the meantime, enjoy the remnants of these lazy, hazy summer days. The full harvest moon arrives tomorrow night.