Sunny Thursday - Air Quality Alert In Northern Minnesota

An Air Quality Alert continues across northern Minnesota through Friday morning due to wildfire smoke from Canada that has moved southward into the state. At times, visibility will be reduced due to the smoke in the air and air quality values are expected to be in the unhealthy for all category. You can read more from the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency on the Air Quality Alert by clicking here.

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A sunny day is expected Thursday in the Twin Cities with highs that will top off right around average. Afternoon highs will be in the low 80s after beginning the day in the low 60s.

As we look statewide for Thursday, fairly sunny skies are expected. Due to the wildfire smoke in northern Minnesota skies will be hazy with potentially reduced visibilities. Highs in northern Minnesota will be several degrees above average, with highs several degrees below average in southern Minnesota.

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Temperatures will be warm as we head into the third weekend of June, with highs in the mid and upper 80s and mainly sunny skies in place. Sunday will be the warmest day of the weekend with highs up around 90F.

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July 18, 1986 Fridley Tornado Memories
By Paul Douglas

Sunday is the 35th anniversary of the KARE-11 Fridley tornado, broadcast live during the 5pm news. A few takeaways: what is it about Fridley and tornadoes? Most God-fearing helicopter pilots wouldn't dream of getting close to a tornado due to extreme wind shear, hail (and debris). But the tornado that hit Springbrook Nature Center was nearly stationary. There were no watches or warnings in effect. Radar catches most tornadoes, not all. SEEING a funnel on the ground is a powerful motivating force to seek shelter.

Yesterday's million dollar soaker is history as we enter another extended period of dry, sunny, increasingly hot weather. I see 80s into the weekend, but a streak of 90s is likely next week. NOAA's GFS model is hinting at a few 100-degree days during the last week of July. I'm a bit skeptical, but it's not out of the question. Climate models show a warm, dry bias into August for the northern tier and western US.

Yesterday's soaker put another dent in our drought. It's not close to being over yet.

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Paul's Extended Twin Cities Forecast

THURSDAY: Comfortable sunshine. Wake up 60. High 81. Chance of precipitation 0%. Wind NE 7-12 mph.

FRIDAY: Warm sunshine. Wake up 63. High 85. Chance of precipitation 0%. Wind E 5-10 mph.

SATURDAY: Sunny and lake-worthy. Wake up 65. High 86. Chance of precipitation 0%. Wind SE 5-10 mph.

SUNDAY: Partly sunny and sticky. Wake up 67. High 88. Chance of precipitation 10%. Wind S 5-10 mph.

MONDAY: Blue sky, plenty hot. Wake up 68. High 90. Chance of precipitation 10%. Wind W 5-10 mph.

TUESDAY: More dusty sunshine. Wake up 69. High 91. Chance of precipitation 10%. Wind N 5-10 mph.

WEDNESDAY: Steamy sunshine. Dog Days return. Wake up 71. High 93. Chance of precipitation 10%. Wind SW 10-20 mph.

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Minneapolis Weather Almanac And Sun Data
July 15th

*Length Of Day: 15 hours, 15 minutes and 24 seconds
*Daylight LOST Since Yesterday: 1 minute and 38 seconds

*When Do We Drop Below 15 Hours Of Daylight? July 24th (14 hours, 58 minutes, and 22 seconds)
*When Is The Sunrise At/After 6 AM?: August 2nd (6:00 AM)
*When Is The Sunset At/Before 8:30 PM?: August 7th (8:30 PM)

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This Day in Weather History
July 15th

1980: Straight-line winds of nearly 100 mph cause enormous damage, mainly in Dakota County. 43 million dollars in damage is reported and 100 thousand people lose power.

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On Thursday, showers and storms - some strong - will be possible along a frontal boundary from the Great Lakes to the Southern Plains. Afternoon storms will be possible in the Southeast and the Rockies.

The heaviest rain through Friday evening will fall across central portions of the United States, where some areas could see over three inches of rain.

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Wildfire smoke may be even more toxic than previously thought

More from Yale Climate Connections: "Wildfires are dangerous. And some of the threats come not from the flames themselves but from inhaling the tiny toxic particles in wildfire smoke. "They are small enough that they can penetrate deep into the respiratory system, so they can get to the lungs, and then from there to the bloodstream, and affect other organs," says Rosana Aguilera, a post-doctoral scholar at the University of California, San Diego. In a recent study, her team looked at 14 years' worth of hospital records across a large area of Southern California. They found that during wildfire smoke events, hospitals had a 10% increase in admissions for respiratory conditions such as asthma and COPD. Their findings suggest that wildfire smoke may be even more toxic than previously thought."

A 'wobble' in the moon's orbit could result in record flooding in the 2030s, new study finds

More from Space.com: "Climate change has already increased the frequency and severity of hurricanes and other extreme weather events around the world. — But there's a smaller, less splashy threat on the horizon that could wreak havoc on America's coasts. High-tide floods, also called "nuisance floods," occur in coastal areas when tides reach about 2 feet (0.6 meters) above the daily average high tide and begin to flood onto streets or seep through storm drains. True to their nickname, these floods are more of a nuisance than an outright calamity, inundating streets and homes, forcing businesses to close and causing cesspools to overflow — but the longer they last, the more damage they can do. The U.S. experienced more than 600 of these floods in 2019, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). But now, a new study led by NASA warns that nuisance floods will become a much more frequent occurrence in the U.S. as soon as the 2030s, with a majority of the U.S. coastline expected to see three to four times as many high-tide flood days each year for at least a decade."

These Scientists Linked June's Heat Wave to Climate Change in 9 Days. Their Work Could Revolutionize How We Talk About Climate

More from TIME: "Long before most people in the U.S. Pacific Northwest had woken up on June 28—the hottest day in last month's record-breaking heat wave—European climate scientists Geert Jan van Oldenborgh and Friederike Otto were preparing to determine the connection between that deadly weather phenomenon and the broader state of the global climate. "Friederike and I looked at each other over the Zoom," Van Oldenborgh told Dutch newspaper NRC on July 5. "The heat wave would peak that day. We said, 'This is so beyond the expectation of a heat wave. We must investigate this.'" So began a nine-day round-the-clock scientific sprint, with dozens of climate researchers worldwide working in shifts to analyze the unprecedented temperatures that killed hundreds and hospitalized thousands across Oregon, Washington and Canada's British Columbia."

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Thanks for checking in and have a great day! Don't forget to follow me on Twitter (@dkayserwx) and like me on Facebook (Meteorologist D.J. Kayser).

- D.J. Kayser