Douglas: Record warmth; temps fall on Wednesday

By Todd Nelson, filling in for Douglas:

Welcome to extended summer, an encore if you will. By calendar date, our average high is in the mid 50s, but Old Man Winter slept in a bit and hasn’t even poured his first cup of coffee.

Your pumpkin spice latte might taste a little off Sunday with the high temperature expected to be near record warmth. Backyard thermometers will flirt with 80 about the time the Vikings go 6-0 against the Lions.

Saturday’s rain never hit the metro. Sunday will be our 31st consecutive day without measurable rain in the Twin Cities, which puts us in the fourth driest stretch on record. The longest was 51 days set in 1944.

A cold front blows through midweek with temps falling from the 80s Monday into the mid 50s Wednesday. I still don’t see much rain in the forecast, so drought will continue to deepen through the end of the month.

Daylight saving time ends two weeks from Sunday, which means that our sunset will be before 5 p.m. until Jan. 18. Enjoy the extended warmth and daylight until the final curtain calls.