Fresh on the heels of the fifth warmest June on record in the Twin Cities, July 2005 is also turning out to be quite warm. A streak of 9 days in a row of 90 degrees or warmer placed the summer of 2005 in the record books tied for 3rd place along with 4 other years. The last time the Twin Cities saw a stretch of 9 days in a row of 90 degrees or higher was back in 1988.

The longest stretch of 90 plus degrees was July 5-18 1936 with 14 days in a row. This included a record stretch of five days in a row where the thermometer saw 100 or above. This was a deadly heat wave. Looking back at the Minneapolis Weather Bureau log books there were 84 deaths in Minneapolis and 92 in St Paul from July 12-16 1936 due to the heat.

So far as of July 19th there has not been a 100 degree temperature yet this year in Minnesota.

Other places in Minnesota have been warm as well. See St. Cloud Hot Weather Facts. from St. Cloud State University.

Listed below is a National Weather Service Statement about this heat wave

PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TWIN CITIES/CHANHASSEN MN
1245 PM CDT SUN JUL 17 2005
...NINE 90 DEGREE PLUS TWIN CITIES HIGHS IN A ROW...STREAK WILL END TODAY.

OVER THE LAST NINE DAYS TEMPERATURES HAVE RAMPED UP INTO THE LOWER
TO MID 90S AT MINNEAPOLIS/ST PAUL INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT UNDER PARTLY
TO MOSTLY SUNNY SKIES. THIS IMPRESSIVE STRETCH OF JULY TEMPERATURES
HAS NOT BEEN ENCOUNTERED SINCE JULY AND EARLY AUGUST OF 1988 WHEN WE 
ALSO ACCRUED A NINE DAY IN A ROW 90 DEGREE THERMAL STREAK.
SINCE 1940 THE MONTH OF JULY HAS AVERAGED A TOTAL OF SIX DAYS OF
GREATER THAN OR EQUAL TO 90 DEGREE READINGS.  HOWEVER...LAST YEAR
THERE WERE ONLY TWO DAYS ABOVE 90 DEGREES DURING THE ENTIRE MONTH OF
JULY.

A COLD FRONT PASSING THROUGH THE AREA THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING 
WILL PUT AN END TO OUR 90 DEGREE STREAK AND BRING MORE 
COMFORTABLE AIR INTO THE REGION FOR MONDAY.
TOP HEAT WAVES...CONSECUTIVE DAYS AT OR ABOVE 90 /1891-2005/

RANK    NUMBER OF DAYS      START DATE        END DATE
1             14            5 JULY 1936       18 JULY 1936
2             11            2 JULY 1948       12 JULY 1948
3 (TIED)       9           12 JULY 1932       20 JULY 1932
              9            5 JULY 1937       13 JULY 1937
              9           29 JUNE 1949        7 JULY 1949
              9           26 JULY 1988        3 AUGUST 1988
           ***9            9 JULY 2005       17 JULY 2005***
8 (TIED)       8            3 AUGUST 1896     10 AUGUST 1896
              8           25 JULY 1935        1 AUGUST 1935
              8           21 JULY 1941       28 JULY 1941
              8           28 JULY 1955        4 AUGUST 1955





 
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URL: http://climate.umn.edu/doc/journal/heat050713.htm

Last modified: July 19, 2005