![]() Those clouds persisted overnight, so low temperatures are generally in the 50's and 60's, despite the drier dew points (see NWS Aviation Weather Center METAR map). Meanwhile, Minnesota had a patch of middle clouds from midday yesterday through the evening (see Shortwave Albedo loop from Colorado State satellite slider menu). There have been some weak lows pushing northeastward or northward from the general low pressure area along the West Coast (see Mid-tropospheric water vapor loop from Colorado State satellite slider), so scattered thunderstorms have developed each afternoon and evening (see Shortwave Albedo loop from Colorado State satellite slider menu), mainly in the western and central Dakotas into Montana (set frames to at least 96 on the College of DuPage north central US radar loop). That high has been holding off the stream of more humid air (see yellows and browns, dew points in the 50's and 60's, from the Dakotas southward on the UCAR hourly dew point chart). There are some scattered wildfires in north central and west central Minnesota (yellow dots on the North America fire and smoke map from the Environmental Protection Agency). The other issue is the dry air, warm temperatures, and brisk southerly winds, which has been creating extreme fire danger in northwestern, extreme north central, and west central Minnesota (see Minnesota fire danger from the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources). Cloud all had ozone reach into the orange unhealthy for sensitive people level for the past two days (change the pulldown to the station and the pollutant to O3 on the MPCA Air Quality Index history) The ozone continues to spike upward to the orange (unhealthy for sensitive groups) the afternoon and evening, then decrease to the yellow (moderate) levels overnight (see current Minnesota Air Quality Index from MPCA). The tongue of air with high ozone concentrations accompanies the same southerly flow from Minnesota and Iowa sporadically into Arkansas, Texas, and Louisiana. The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency still has an air quality alert for high concentrations of ozone in central and eastern Minnesota through today. With High Ozone Central and Eastern MN and High Fire Danger North and West This air was initially the cooler and drier air that was in Manitoba and Saskatchewan a week ago and has come all the way around the high back to the western flank, so it has warmed some, but remained dry. Cloud had reaching 80 degrees in April and early May (see 30-day graph of St. Cloud observation chart from MesoWest) have climbed into the 80's for 3 straight days and for 6 of the past 8 days, a far cry from the trouble St. Afternoon temperatures (red line on the 5-day St. We have been on the western flank of that high since Friday (see 4 PM Sunday NWS WPC North America zoom-in map).The air has been quite dry, with dew points remaining in the 40's overnight and in the 30's during the day (see blue line on the 5-day St. Minnesota continues to gain the benefit from the slow-moving high pressure area parked over the Great Lakes (see clockwise circulation on the Mid-tropospheric water vapor loop from Colorado State satellite slider). Monday, 4 :15 AM Bob Weisman Meteorology Professor Saint Cloud State University Atmospheric and Hydrologic Sciences Department Continued Warm This Week, But With Humidity, Storm Chances Arriving Tomorrow
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