"Workers initially thought the recovered plane was one involved in a 1965 crash in which the pilot and three passengers were killed. Three bodies and a Piper Comanche 250 airplane remain missing in a California lake, despite hope that underwater surveyors had found the remains that have now evaded searchers for over half a century. Last week, Seafloor Systems workers came upon a mystery plane sitting at the bottom of Folsom Lake near Sacramento. They thought the plane matched the description of the one that crashed on New Year's Day 1965, killing the pilot and three passengers onboard. Only the pilot's body had been recovered from the 1965 crash, so the potential discovery of the 56-year-old wreckage made headlines. However, the Placer county sheriff's office on Wednesday confirmed that it wasn't that plane but was instead that of a 1986 non-fatal crash. That plane will remain at the bottom of the lake, the office said."

See more from The Guardian HERE:

According to CA.gov most of the reservoirs located in California are running well below the historical average. Interestingly, Folsom Lake is sitting at 33%, which is the lowest out of any of the reservoirs located in the state and it continues to drop.

See more from CA.gov HERE:

"According to the US Drought Monitor over 55 percent of the Minnesota landscape is in at least moderate drought, and portions of 12 counties (south and west) are in severe drought. Further, according to the NOAA Drought Seasonal Outlook released on June 17 this week, drought is expected to persist across much of western and southern Minnesota through the month of September. The Palmer Drought Severity Index for Minnesota is nearing the lowest value it has been for this time of summer since 1988. The Minnesota inter-agency Drought Task Force has resumed meetings."

See more from Mark Seeley's Minnesota Weather Talk HERE:

Extremely hot weather and lack of rain in Minnesota is making growers worried about the impact on crop yield. Through this blog post we have tried to provide an overview on early season drought effects on corn and soybean and provide recommendations on irrigation management. Effects on Corn: The severity of drought stress in corn is indicated by the time of day when leaf rolling begins. Plants that exhibit leaf rolling early in the morning are under more stress than those that begin leaf rolling later in the day. Drought stress during vegetative growth can reduce plant height, but it typically does not reduce the number of leaves produced. In conclusion, drought stress to corn during the early- to mid-vegetative stages is likely to have only a small negative effect on corn grain yield. If corn is under drought stress at V13 or beyond, yield loss is expected to be greater, with the level of yield loss dependent on the time and duration of drought stress. Effects on Soybean: Because drought stress is nearly ubiquitous throughout time and across biomes it has had a strong evolutionary impact on nearly every plant species. Plants have multiple and complex systems to respond to drought to ensure that they can produce as many viable seeds as possible.

Here's how much precipitation we've had so far this month and despite a few heavy pockets of rain across the Dakotas, northern Minnesota and northern Wisconsin, much of central and southern Minnesota have not had much in terms of any appreciative rain.

Here's the precipitation departure from average so far this month. Note that many locations from the central and northern part of the state down to the MN/IA border are nearly -1.00" to -2.00" below average with Rochester, MN and Mason City, IA nearly -3.00 below average. Interestingly, this is the 13th driest start to any June on record for Rochester.

Many areas across the region are dealing with deficits with many areas several inches below average since the beginning of the year. The biggest deficits are located south and east of the Twin Cities across parts of Iowa and southern Wisconsin. With that being said, Madison, WI is sitting at its 6th driest start to any year on record, while Mason City, IA is sitting at its 9th driest start to any year on record.

Through the first 20 days of June, the Twin Cities is running nearly +10.5F above average, which is the warmest start to any June on record. We've also only had 1.10" of rain, which is the 25th driest start to any June on record.

Here's the top 25 warmest June 1st - 20th stretches on record. Note that this year is the warmest start to any June on record with an average temperature of nearly 79F !! We're currently sitting at the 24th driest start to June on record with 1.10" of rain. The driest June 1st to 20th period was back in 1910.

Here's the extended precipitation outlook from NOAA's WPC, which shows pockets of decent rainfall potential across parts of southern Minnesota and into central/southern Wisconsin. Unfortunately, it looks like most of the rain will miss much of the state, including the Twin Cities Metro.

Here's a look at dewpoint values over the next several days, which shows another spike in humidity values during the 2nd half of the week and especially on Thursday when we climb into the 60s. Anytime dewpoints climb into the 60s, it feels quite sticky.

The weather outlook for the Twin Cities on Tuesday shows another mild and dry day in place with blue sky and comfortable sunshine. Enjoy before the hot & sticky sunshine returns during the 2nd half of the week.

The meteograms for Minneapolis on Wednesday shows temps warming to around 70F by midday. High temps will warm into the mid/upper 70s in the afternoon, which will be close to if not slightly below average for mid/late June. South to southwesterly winds will be fairly light through much of the day, but could gust close to 15mph

The weather outlook across the region on Tuesday looks rather quiet across the region with temps running close to if not slightly below average across much of the state and

The weather outlook from AM Tuesday to AM Friday, shows slightly unsettled weather moving through the Upper Mississippi Valley late Wednesday and Thursday with lingering showers and storms possible on Friday. It appears that some of the heaviest rains will fall south of the Twin Cities once again.

According to NOAA's Climate Prediction Center, the 8 to 14 day temperature outlook shows warmer than average temps across much of the western half of the nation and also in the Upper Midwest once again. However, cooler than average temps will be in place across much of the Southern and Southeastern US as we wrap up the month and head into early July.

Happy Summer! Hard to believe that days are actually getting shorter now, but don't fret, we'll only lose a few seconds of daylight today. Daylight won't dwindle by more than 1 minute per day for another few weeks yet, so enjoy the longest days year while you can.

The first 20 days of June have been the warmest on record at the MSP Airport. We had a nice break from the heat and humidity on your first full day of summer yesterday and it'll be another stunner today with blue sky and comfortable sunshine. It gets sweaty again on Wednesday as highs approach 90 degrees with sticky dewpoints. The rapid rise in heat and humidity will be responsible for another round of showers and storms late Wednesday into Thursday, some of which could be a little on the vigorous side. Stay tuned!

Meanwhile, the Full Strawberry Moon rises later this week. Clearing skies on Friday should give you a better view of the luminous moon as we head into the weekend.

TUESDAY: Bright, comfy sunshine. Winds: SW 5-15. High: 77.

TUESDAY NIGHT: Mostly clear and quiet. Winds: S 5-10. Low: 57.

WEDNESDAY: Hot & sticky again. Storms overnight. Winds: SSW 5-15. High: 90.

THURSDAY: Unsettled. Chance of rain & rumbles. Winds: WSW 5-10. Wake-up: 72. High: 91.

FRIDAY: AM T-showers. Gradual PM clearing. Winds: N 5-15. Wake-up: 68. High: 86.

SUNDAY: More clouds. Chance of t-storms. Winds: WNW 10-15. Wake-up: 64. High: 84.

MONDAY: Lingering clouds & showers. Cooler. Winds: NNW 5-10. Wake-up: 60. High: 82.

June 22nd

1988: Smoke fills the sky across much of Minnesota due to wild fires during the '88 drought.

1919: The 2nd deadliest tornado in Minnesota history hits Fergus Falls, killing 59 people. Like the #1 killer tornado for Minnesota (73 fatalities in St. Cloud and Sauk Rapids on 4/14/1886), it struck on a weekend.

June 22nd

Average High: 81F (Record: 98F set in 1911)

Average Low: 61F (Record: 42F set in 1960)

Record Rainfall: 2.12" set in 1930

Record Snowfall: 0.00"

Sunrise: 5:27am

Sunset: 9:03pm

Hours of Daylight: ~15 hours & 37 minutes

Daylight LOST since yesterday: ~ 5 seconds

Daylight LOST since Summer Solstice (June 20th): Less Than 1 Minutes

1:40 p.m. CDT - Known to every Algonquin tribe. Europeans called it the Rose Moon.

See more from Space.com HERE:

"On June 22, 2021, let the nearly-full waxing gibbous moon introduce you to the star Antares. It's a red star and the brightest light in the constellation Scorpius the Scorpion. If the lunar glare is too overwhelming, and washes Antares from view, try placing your finger in front of the moon. If you can't see this star's reddish color, wait a night or two, until the moon moves away. If your sky is dark enough, also look for the graceful shape of Antares' constellation Scorpius. It's one of the easiest constellations to recognize because of the graceful, curved shape of the Scorpion's Tail."

See more from Earth Sky HERE:

The weather outlook on Tuesday shows cooler than average temps along and east of the Mississippi River Valley, while folks in the western half of the nation will be warmer than average once again

According to NOAA's Weather Prediction Center there is a chance of locally heavy rainfall along and east of the Mississippi River Valley and especially across parts of the Midwest and Ohio Valley. Meanwhile, folks in the Western US will remain mostly dry once again.

"A Colorado resident reflects on the new normal of fire season. It's only June and there are already red-flag warnings all over western Colorado, meaning wildfire danger is high. A hot wind is blowing and temperatures are heading toward 105-plus degrees in the western part of the state. There is little chance of rain anywhere in Colorado in the weather forecasts. Red-flag fire danger days in early summer. Hot and dry days, hotter and drier than anyone has seen before. Smoke-filled skies. This is our new-ish Colorado reality, brought to us by the fossil fuel industry. During the past two decades, we Coloradans have gotten used to billowing clouds of smoke over the mountains in summer. But 2020's fires broke records—and seemed to usher in a whole new and terrifying "normal." Threats of fire usually are over by October, once we've received a snowfall or two. But not last year. In late October, we still had two major fires obscuring the sky and polluting our air. There was the Cameron Peak Fire—the largest in Colorado history—along with the Cal-Wood Fire—a fast-moving Boulder County conflagration."

See more from Sierra Club HERE:

"The US hasn't seen anything quite like this. Over the weekend, temperatures soared to new triple-digit heights across the American West. The immediate cause was a "heat dome," a mass of high-pressure air trapping heat beneath it, one far stronger and larger than normal. But what we saw this weekend is what climate scientists have been predicting for decades. And it's a taste of what's to come. "It's surreal to see your models become real life," Katharine Hayhoe, climate scientist and chief scientist at the Nature Conservancy, says in the Guardian. Records fell across the region. On June 17, California's capital of Sacramento hit 110°F (43°C), smashing the last record of 102°F set in 1976. Similar all-time highs fell in Las Vegas, Denver, Phoenix, and other cities thousands of miles apart. In Death Valley National Park, where temperatures soared to 128°F, just one degree off the record, nighttime temperatures stayed above 111°F (44°C) well past midnight, among the hottest nights ever recorded in North America."

See more from Quartz HERE:

See more from EurasiaReview.com HERE: