Blast furnace Friday, more July than September this weekend

Welcome to the 3rd hottest day of 2017 in Minnesota. On September 22nd.

The thermometer at MSP Airport hovered at 94 degrees today.

That's just 1 degree shy of the record high of 95 set in 1936 in the heat waves of the "dirty thirties."

Throw in Guam-like dew points in the 70s and the heat index topped the 100-degree mark in southern Minnesota today. In fact as Minnesota rode the tip of the unusually intense September heat dome, our heat index values were among the highest in the nation.

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9 22 HX
Oklahoma Mesonet

July-like weekend

Most of Minnesota remains on the warm side of a stalled front this weekend. Note the dramatic temperature contrast across Minnesota this weekend. July in Falcon Heights. October in Fargo.

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NOAA

The front will be the focus for scattered storms this weekend. The highest storm chances favor the eastern Dakotas and western and northern Minnesota. The Canadian GEM model seems to have a good handle on the location of storms this weekend.

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Canadian GEM model via tropical tidbits.

There is a low severe risk this weekend north and west of MSP.

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Cooler next week

We're back to late September reality after the weekend heat. Talk about falling off the temperature cliff. Now where exactly did I stash that polar fleece in April?

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NOAA via Weather Bell.

Stay tuned.