An unusually powerful storm system for late summer moved across Minnesota from southern Canada on Friday the 16th and Saturday the 17th. In the wake of the cold front were very gusty winds. Non-thunderstorm wind speeds as strong as what was seen on Saturday are uncommon during August in Minnesota. The Twin Cities had a peak gust of 39 mph, La Crosse had a gust of 40 mph, International Falls had a peak gust of 44 mph and Duluth topped out with a peak gust of 51 mph on Saturday. After the winds died down Saturday evening, the cold high pressure from Canada settled in and lows in the 40's were common in Minnesota Sunday morning.

Record Lows Set on Sunday August 18, 2002.

Location        Low     Previous Record
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Morris          42      43 1932 
Worthington     43      44 1936 
Fargo           41      41 1887 (Tie)
Sioux Falls     44      45 1897 and 1950

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URL: http://climate.umn.edu/doc/journal/cool020818.htm
Last modified: August 19, 2002