Paul Douglas is a nationally respected meteorologist with 33 years of television and radio experience. A serial entrepreneur, Douglas is Senior Meteorologist for WeatherNation TV, a new, national 24/7 weather channel with studios in Denver and Minneapolis. Founder of Media Logic Group, Douglas and a team of meteorologists provide weather services for media at Broadcast Weather, and high-tech alerting and briefing services for companies via Alerts Broadcaster. His speaking engagements take him around the Midwest with a message of continuous experimentation and reinvention, no matter what business you’re in. He is the public face of “SAVE”, Suicide Awareness, Voices of Education, based in Bloomington. | Send Paul a question.
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By Paul Douglas
I've run out of adjectives. Tropical? Incandescent? Torrid? Swamp-like! None of them quite work today. So I don't bury the lead let me get right to the point: if the sun stays out most of the day a few of us may sample 100 degrees by 5 pm; the hottest day since June 7, 2011, when the mercury hit a toasty 103 F. We crack the 100-degree barrier about 3 times a decade, on average. What will make today's near-triple-digit-heat more ghastly is the dew point, predicted to top 70, making it feel like 105 by the dinner hour.
I may huddle in my cool, dank basement, making quick dashes to the lake to cool off. Old fashion A/C.
An inflamed, turbo-charged hot front may fire off a few severe storms later on. One way to way to break the heat. Hopefully we won't be tracking derechos on Doppler, but when it's this hot & humid all bets are off.
95-100F degree heat lingers into at least Friday; a slight reprieve from our Guam-like weather regime by mid July.
At the rate we're going we may see 27 days above 90 this summer (2007), but I doubt we'll have to endure 44 days of 90+ (1988).
And to think, 4 months ago we were driving on icy lakes and whining about wind chill.
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Todd's Star Tribune Outlook for the Twin Cities and all of Minnesota:
MONDAY: Hot and very humid! Unsettled - a few heavy thunderstorms in the area. Dew point: 74. Heat Index: 100-105. High: 96
MONDAY NIGHT: Not much relief... scattered thunder, mainly north. Low: 77
TUESDAY: Heat wave continues. Unsettled, few lingering T-storms Dew point: 73. High: 95
4th Of JULY: Summer sizzle. Hot, hazy & humid. Whew... Slight chance of thunder late. Dew point: 74. Low: 75. High: 96
THURSDAY: Is it over yet? Sizzling. Some afternoon thunder possibe. Dew point: 74. Low: 77. High: 98
FRIDAY: Sweaty sun, chance of T-storms? Low: 76. High: 91
SATURDAY: Still warm, but slightly cooler. Low: 69. High: 88
SUNDAY: Another warm day, less humid. Low: Low: 67. High: 88
North Dakota Lightning
I happened to be out in North Dakota last week for a family reunion/wedding. One of the days, we stopped at one our family member's farm, beautiful place! This old windmill (which still works as a water pump from the well below) was a perfect spot to try some lightning photography... pretty lucky shot, huh?!
Salt Lake City Tied Driest June on Record
Hot and dry weather continues out west and more records continue to fall. Salt Lake City, UT just had their driest June on record with only a trace of precipitation.
Wildfires Continue
There are still several wildfires ongoing out west. www.inciweb.org has the lastest:
"The Waldo Canyon Fire is the most destructive in Colorado history, with 346 homes lost.
Waldo Canyon started on June 23, three miles west of Colorado Springs. Three days later, on June 26, it exploded eastward toward the city, engulfing several neighborhoods.
Evacuations peaked on June 27 at 32,000.
On June 29, President Obama arrived in Colorado Springs to visit burned neighborhoods, thank firefighters, and visit a Red Cross evacuation center.
The cause of the fire remains under investigation."
The Waldo Canyon Fire has consumed nearly 18,000 acres and as of Sunday afternoon, it was 45% contained.
High Park Fire
The fire west of Fort Collins, CO has now been updated as 100% contained! Here's the latest from www.inciweb.org
"FIRE OVERVIEW
Containment is now 100%. The Incident Command Post is located at the Pingree Park Campus. Fire crews are patrolling the fire perimeter, mopping-up hotspots near the edge of the fire perimeter, and conducting fire line rehabilitation, including chipping up fire line debris and slash and installing water bars to help prevent erosion."
National Wildfires
This is a map of all the current wildfires across the nation, the biggest of which is in southwest New Mexico in the Gila National Forest. This wildfire is nearly 300,000 acres and is the largest wildfire in the state's history. The good news is that it is 87% contained
Extreme Heat Continues
Thanks to @mmarie1976 from Corbin, KY for this picture. Not sure I've ever seen my car thermometer read 100F, but 113F... good grief!
Perfect Lake Weather?
Thanks to Paul Douglas for this picture taken near Breezy Point on Pelican Lake...
Powerful storms swept through the eastern United States Friday night, resulting in at least 12 deaths and leaving more than three million without power.
WASHINGTON – Utility crews untangled downed power lines and tree limbs Sunday, working to get the electricity turned back on for millions of people facing a second day of 100-degree temperatures without modern conveniences like air conditioning and refrigeration.
On Saturday, many people flocked to places like malls and movie theaters in the hope the lights would be on again when they returned home. Utilities were slowly making progress, but more than 3 million people still had no electricity and could only watch their thermostats climb. It could be several days before all the power outages are restored."
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