For the past few years, July 4th weather has been quite pleasant for viewing fireworks. The last time there was blistering heat in the Twin Cities was in 1999 with a high of 93 degrees at the Minneapolis/ St. Paul Airport. There hasn't been any widespread rainouts across the Twin Cities in a decade. The last time fireworks were cancelled across the Twin Cities was back in 1995. While the Twin Cities Airport only picked up .24 during that July 4th, North St. Paul saw .70. Some sites rescheduled their fireworks later in the month.

Information on Independece Day weather below courtesy the National Weather Service and Mark Seeley, University of Minnesota Meteorologist and Climatologist.

...INDEPENDENCE DAY CLIMATOLOGY FOR CENTRAL MINNESOTA AND WEST CENTRAL WISCONSIN...

INDEPENDENCE DAY IS NORMALLY THOUGHT OF AS A TIME FOR FIREWORKS...
GRILLING OUT...AND OTHER OUTDOORS ACTIVITIES. WITH NORMAL HIGHS IN THE 
LOWER 80S AND NORMAL LOWS AROUND 60...CENTRAL MINNESOTA
AND WEST CENTRAL WISCONSIN OFTEN PROVIDE WEATHER 
CONDITIONS SUITABLE FOR ENJOYING SUCH ACTIVITIES. 2006 LOOKS TO BE A 
PRIME EXAMPLE...WITH DRY WEATHER...MOSTLY SUNNY SKIES...AND HIGHS AND LOWS 
EXPECTED TO BE IN THE LOW TO MID 80S AND 
THE LOW TO MID 50S...RESPECTIVELY.
NOT EVERY YEAR HAS BEEN TRUE TO FORM...HOWEVER. TAKE 1999 FOR INSTANCE. 
MANY LOCATIONS...INCLUDING MINNEAPOLIS/ST. PAUL...ST. CLOUD...AND EAU CLAIRE...
SET EITHER RECORD HIGH TEMPERATURES OR RECORD 
WARM LOW TEMPERATURES THAT YEAR. THAT SAME YEAR...VISITORS TO THE BOUNDARY WATERS 
CANOE AREA IN NORTHERN MINNESOTA 
WERE RUDELY GREETED BY ONE OF THE MOST DAMAGING WIND STORMS IN AREA HISTORY. 1949 
ALSO PRODUCED A HOT AND HUMID JULY 4TH...
WHEN AFTERNOON HEAT INDEX READINGS EXCEEDED 110 ACROSS A LARGE PORTION OF THE AREA...
INCLUDING THE TWIN CITIES.

HEAT HASN'T BEEN THE ONLY JULY 4TH SPOILER...THOUGH. RECORD LOW 
TEMPERATURES FOR THE 4TH WERE SET IN MANY LOCATIONS IN 1972...AND A FEW LOCATIONS IN 
NORTHERN MINNESOTA EVEN DROPPED A 
FEW DEGREES BELOW FREEZING. 1967 BROUGHT ANOTHER COLD INDEPENDENCE DAY...WITH MANY
RECORD COLD HIGHS BEING SET THAT DAY.
WHAT ABOUT RAIN? SINCE 1891...MEASURABLE PRECIPITATION HAS BEEN RECORDED
IN THE TWIN CITIES ON 41 PERCENT OF ALL INDEPENDENCE DAYS. 1900 WAS QUITE RAINY...
AS OVER 2 INCHES OF RAIN FELL IN THE CITIES
AND IN EAU CLAIRE...WHICH REMAINS A DAILY RECORD FOR BOTH LOCATIONS.

HERE ARE SPECIFIC NORMAL AND RECORD TEMPERATURE AND 
PRECIPITATION VALUES FOR MINNEAPOLIS/ST. PAUL...ST. CLOUD...AND EAU CLAIRE.
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                     MINNEAPOLIS/   |   ST. CLOUD   |   EAU CLAIRE
                     ST. PAUL       |               |
--------------------------------------------------------------------
NORMAL HIGH           82             |   81          |   82  
NORMAL LOW            62             |   57          |   59
RECORD HIGH           100 (1949)     |   96 (1988)   |   97 (1999)
RECORD LOW            43 (1972)      |   43 (1972)   |   42 (1972)
RECORD COLD HIGH      58 (1967)      |   61 (1967)   |   60 (1967)
RECORD WARM LOW       80 (1999)      |   77 (1999)   |   79 (1999)
RECORD RAINFALL       2.27 (1900)    |   1.77 (1935) |   2.18 (1900)
--------------------------------------------------------------------

ALTHOUGH MOST OF THE INFORMATION IN THIS STATEMENT WAS TAKEN FROM LOCAL 
DATA ARCHIVES...SOME OF THE DATA WERE COURTESY OF THE "MINNESOTA WEATHER ALMANAC"
WRITTEN BY MARK SEELEY.

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URL: http://climate.umn.edu/doc/journal/independence_day_climatology2006.htm
Last modified: July 3, 2006