Summer sprint

By: Todd Nelson

Soon to be Super Bowl champions, the Minnesota Vikings (I'm an optimistic thinker) report to training camp THIS Sunday, how about that!

Minnesota summers always seem to be a sprint, don't they? We race to Memorial Day, the unofficial start to summer, blink and it's already the 4th of July. There's still a lot of summer to go, but we are definitely on the summer slide as Fair season approaches. The heat of 2012 has been a talker thus far, but on today's day in 1987 the Twin Cities had its largest flash flood in history.

9.15" fell on this date 25 years ago, which flooded thousands of homes and created millions of dollars worth of damage. The rain never quit; there were reports of impassable roads and businesses closed for several days. A few days before the event, heavy rain soaked some of these same areas, which set the stage for widespread flooding. In the end, the meteorological summer of 1987 became the wettest summer in recorded history with almost 2 feet of rain!

Your last full week of July 2012 will be warm and humid with several clusters of storms developing during the overnight hours. Some of these may linger into the morning - Todd Nelson
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Todd's Conservation MN Outlook for the Twin Cities and all of Minnesota:

MONDAY: Another very warm and unsettled late. Intervals of sticky sun. High: 92
MONDAY NIGHT: Chance of overnight thunder. Low: 72
TUESDAY: Still summery with a chance of thunder developing overnight. High: 87
WEDNESDAY: Sweaty and muggy with some heavy downpours. Low: 72. High: 84.
THURSDAY: Lingering clouds and thunder. Low: 68. High: 84.
FRIDAY: A slight break in the heat. Not as humid, spits of PM rain. Low: 67. High: 84.
SATURDAY: Quiet with sun. Not as hot or humid. Low: 66. High: 84
SUNDAY: Fading sun with some afternoon thunder. Low: 66. High: 87.
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Twin Cities Superstorm of 1987: 25 Years Later

"25 years ago, the largest flash flood in Twin Cities history began on July 23, and ended during the early morning hours of July 24. Known locally as the “Superstorm”, the storm caused damage to 9,000 homes and killed two people. Value of the damage was estimated at $27 million. This storm was voted the eighth most significant weather event in the state of Minnesota during the 20th century."

StormChaserSchwartz.com has a good writeup on the Superstorm HERE:

(Flooded Interstate 494 at East Bush Lake Road in Bloomington. Photo courtesy of KARE11)

More Superstorm Coverage

Take a look at some of the coverage of the massive flooding from KARE 11 and WCCO.

Thanks to Tom Oszman for sending these links over:

Super Storm Coverage

KARE-TV Sunrise (with Paul Douglas)

http://tcmedianow.com/video/kare-news11-sunrise-the-morning-after-the-july-23-1987-superstorm/

KARE-TV Evening Coverage (with Paul Douglas)

http://tcmedianow.com/video/kare-news11-at-5-the-day-after-the-july-23-1987-superstorm/

WCCO's Debbie Ely in standing flood water night of the storm

http://tcmedianow.com/video/debbie-ely-reporting-on-flooding-in-minneapolis-during-the-super-storm-wcco-tv-july-23-1987/

(Rainfall totals - KARE News11 Sunrise from July 24, 1987)

Summer Thunder

Thanks to my good friend, Rich Koivisto, from Duluth, MN for the picture below. Spotty showers and thunderstorms have been bubbling up on the northern periphery of the extreme heat setting up to the south. We'll have a few more of these storms across the region this week and the core of the extreme heat continues to our south.

Severe Thunderstorm Threat

The Storm Prediction Center has issued a SLIGHT RISK of severe weather in a couple of locations shaded in yellow for Monday. Hail and high winds would be the primary threat for any of the more vigorous storms that would develop.

5 Day Rainfall Forecast

NOAAs HPC 5 day rainfall forecast shows pockets of heavy rainfall potential around the extreme heat in the central part of the country. It still apears that heavy rainfall is not expected in the drought stricken areas of the middle part of the country where drought conditions will likely continue to worsen.

Heat Headlines

Excessive Heat Warnings and Heat Advisories continue once again for a large chunk of the middle part of the country where heat index values will top the century mark. In fact, afternoon heat index values could be as high as 110F!

Subsiding Heat?

NOAAs HPC maximum heat index for next Sunday shows a slight reprieve from the heat, mainly across the Great Lakes region. The excessive heat with afternoon heat index values approaching 110F look to be sagging south just a bit.

See more HPC Heat Index Forecasts HERE:

Hot Weather to Continue

US forecast: Hot, dry weather to linger into fall

WASHINGTON (AP) — The unusually hot dry weather that has gripped the nation will not let up its stranglehold over the next few months, federal weather forecasters said Thursday.
And that means the heartland's "flash drought" will linger at least until around Halloween and even spread a bit farther north and east.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's outlook for August through October shows that nearly every state likely will have hotter than normal temperatures. Much of the Midwest is likely to be drier than normal, too."

See the full story from businessweek.com HERE: