Douglas: Another sizzler on Sunday, and then a bit cooler

Heat is a silent killer, claiming far more lives across the U.S. every year than hurricanes, tornadoes and even floods.

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The Minnesota Star Tribune
June 21, 2025 at 7:07PM

“Heat waves don’t make headlines until the morgues fill up,” wrote public health expert Dr. Kristie Ebi. Heat is a silent killer, claiming far more lives across the U.S. every year than hurricanes, tornadoes and even floods. Heat isn’t as dramatic as a tornado funnel or battering waves. It sneaks up on victims. The old, the very young and people with medical conditions are most at risk.

NOAA reports straight-line winds are responsible for at least half of wind-related damage and many more injury and fatality reports than tornadoes. Friday night’s derecho up north sparked 106 mph straight-line wind gusts in Bemidji, as strong as an EF-1 tornado. Yikes.

One more day of blast-furnace heat Sunday with a shot at 100 degrees in some towns before a cooler front Monday sparks more T-storms. A stalled frontal boundary may wring out another 1 to 3 inches of rain Wednesday and Thursday. I see mostly 80s into early July. Warm, but not scorching.

Going way out on a limb, long-range models show 80s and T-storms on the Fourth of July. I’m shocked.

about the writer

about the writer

Paul Douglas

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Paul Douglas is a nationally-respected meteorologist, with 40 years of broadcast television and radio experience. He provides daily print and online weather services for the Star Tribune.

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