90° days are winding down
KMSP - While the calendar reads the middle of September, it certainly hasn’t felt like it. Temperatures have been consistently in the 80s for the last few days, with a 91° thrown in as well. That’s the first time we have seen the 90s in the metro in nearly 2 months.
We couldn’t even get past 89° in our normally very warm month of August. But this year, we finally had a cool August… coldest in fact since 2004.
Overall though, our summer was officially above average by roughly a degree when combining the months of June, July, & August. T
hat being said, the overall number of times we experienced 90° was actually just shy of average with 11, versus the 14 we see in a typical year. But as the chart above shows, the number of these days we see in any given year varies wildly. This gives us the overall 30 year average of 14.
While many have enjoyed the recent heat, don’t expect it to last as temperatures usually begin their tumbling phase in the next couple of weeks with record highs dropping out of the 90s and into the 80s.
Think of it this way, we typically lose the ability to reach a benchmark temperatures every month. So, when we get to October, hitting 90° is virtually impossible. When we enter November, we’re done with the 80s. When get to December, the 70’s are over. By January, even the 60s can’t be reached. See… it's just stair steps. Now obviously the average temperatures are far lower than these, but just gives you an idea of what temperatures are even unrealistically reachable each month of fall and into winter.