The Minnesota State Fair’s opening weekend will be hot and steamy

It’s called the Great Minnesota Get-Together, but the State Fair’s opening weekend may become the Great Minnesota Sweat-Together.

A late burst of August heat will push temperatures near or over 90 degrees Saturday through Monday and high humidity will make it feel even hotter.

“Don’t blame the messenger about this weekend’s temps,” the National Weather Service said on its Facebook page.

Conditions will be quite comfortable for the fair’s opening day Thursday with highs in the upper 70s, although there is a 40% chance of showers and thunderstorms by evening. From there, the mercury will rise into the 80s on Friday “before trending hot and muggy by this weekend,” the Weather Service said.

Steamy weather during the fair is common, but it has been absent in recent years. For nine straight years from 2014 to 2022, there were no 90-degree high temperatures and mercury didn’t even touch 80 in 2019, according to the Minnesota State Climatology Office.

But there have been some scorchers, too, like on Sept. 10, 1931, when the high was 104 degrees, a record high that still stands. That year also saw a 99-degree reading. The average temperature for the 1931 fair, held Sept. 5-12, was 92.6 degrees, which made it the hottest fair ever, the Climatology Office said.

Close behind was the 1922 fair with an average high temperature of 89.9 degrees. In third place was the 2013 extravaganza when the average daily temperature was 88.2 degrees, which was fueled by six days of 90 degrees or hotter, the most in the fair’s 165-year history. The fair was not held in 1861 and 1862 due to the Civil War, 1893 (Columbian Exposition), 1945 (fuel shortage because of World War II), 1946 (outbreak of Polio) and 2020 due to COVID-19.

Last year the fair closed its 12-day run with four straight days in the 90s, including a sizzling 98 degrees on Sept. 4, according to Twin Cities weather data.

To help fairgoers stay hydrated, there are more than 40 drinking fountains and water bottle refilling stations throughout the grounds. Several vendors also offer free water. Guests can bring coolers with their own water, fair officials said.

Fairgoers can also beat the heat by ducking under one of eight misting stations or visiting air-conditioned buildings, including the History & Heritage Center at West End Market and the North End Event Center.

Fans inside barns will help keep livestock cool. Exhibitors also will mist their animals as necessary and veterinarians will be on hand too, fair officials said.

Guests and employees with heat-related symptoms can seek help at one of the fair’s two first aid stations.

Temperatures are expected to drop into the 80s by Tuesday and into the 70s by next weekend, Accuweather’s long-range forecast said, meaning the record for the coldest fair — an average of 64.2 degrees in 1898 — won’t be threatened. The record low at the fair was a chilly 33 degrees on Sept. 13, 1890, the Climatology Office said.

On average, rain falls on three to four days, but this year’s fair looks to be mostly dry. After a chance of rain on opening day Thursday, the forecast calls for a string of sunny days through the end of the month, the National Weather Service said.