Record heat and Sunday evening thunderstorms
Record heat
Toasty air stretched from Minnesota to the East Coast today. The Twin Cities had a record high temperature of 90 Sunday afternoon. The National Weather Service reported that the recent string of 3 90-degree days set a record for 90-degree strings so late in the season.
In stark contrast, much chillier air dominates from western Minnesota to points west. At 6 p.m., the Twins Cities temperature is 88 while Hallock and Crookston in the northwest are an autumnal 52.
Frisky thunderstorms
Create a More Connected Minnesota
MPR News is your trusted resource for the news you need. With your support, MPR News brings accessible, courageous journalism and authentic conversation to everyone - free of paywalls and barriers. Your gift makes a difference.
These two air masses are separated by a wobbling front that is beginning to slide eastward as a cold front. Thunderstorms popped up in the vicinity of the front beginning in southwestern Minnesota and then tracked to the northeast. Some of these storms have been strong with gusty winds and rather small hail.
A gust front with very dark skies is crossing the Twin Cities metro area eastward as of 6:50 p.m. but no warnings are in effect for severe weather. Winds are likely to gust to 30-40 mph with this gust front before about 8:00 p.m.
These storms will weaken with the loss of solar heating, but periods of rain will continue through Monday and probably into Tuesday.
Much cooler weather on Monday
Expect the transition to bring jacket weather to our state. High temperatures on Monday should range from the 50s in northwestern Minnesota to a lot of 60s elsewhere. Only the southeastern corner will hang onto summer-like heat with highs in the 70s to low 80s. The Twin Cities are likely to have a high of only about 67 on Monday.
Typical late-September temperatures will return later in the work week.
Hurricanes
In case you were wondering about the current Atlantic hurricanes, here they are.
Revitalized Hurricane Lee is now category 1 and forecast to circle around harmlessly in the middle of the Atlantic. Huge category 2 Hurricane Maria, however, will track north and likely graze past North Carolina's Outer Banks in a couple days. Storm surge could be a problem along that coast.
In the eastern Pacific
Meanwhile, Tropical Storm Pilar has formed along the west coast of Mexico and is forecast to slide up that coast and weaken on Monday.
