Minnesotans complaining about the heat, in early October? Live long enough and you’ll see (almost) everything. We’ve seen flurries on Oct. 3. On Oct. 3, 1996, the Twin Cities woke up to a crisp 26 degrees.
If anyone asks, 30-year averages show the metro’s first light frost (mainly suburbs) comes Oct. 6. The first widespread frost (32 degrees or colder) arrives Oct. 18. First hard freeze? Oct. 29, based on climate data since 1991.
We may hit 90 degrees Friday, again Saturday. Only 2007 had warmer temperatures for the Twin Cities Marathon (74 degrees early, 82 degrees by late morning) and we’ll come close to those numbers this year. The normal high is 65 degrees, by the way.
80s spill into Sunday, followed by a cooler front (60s most of next week). Sunday’s arrival of comfortable air will come through dry, with rain tracking well to our north.
Moderate drought has returned near Bemidji, but I don’t see a real slug of rain until the weekend of Oct. 11-12. ECMWF predicts 80s that weekend, too. Yup, fall is running late this year.
