By Todd Nelson, filling in for Douglas:
Welcome to the summer slide. A time when daylight hours slip away slowly after the summer solstice. Statewide, we’ve lost almost 10 to 20 minutes since June 20 and will lose another 40 to 50 minutes of daylight through the end of the month. Believe it or not, it’s only 44 days until the start of the State Fair and 62 days until the Vikings open their season on Monday Night Football, under the lights in Chicago!
With that being said, we still have lots of summer to go around. Tomatoes and peppers are finally starting to show up in gardens near you. We’re also, statistically, heading into our warmest 11-day stretch, from July 10 to the 21st, when the average high and low are at their warmest all year.
The next few days will be very summer — like with highs in the mid- to upper-80s. Thursday will be a hot and humid day in advance of scattered storms on Friday. An inch of rain could fall in many communities through Saturday morning.
Enjoy the warmth. Our average first measurable snow is only four months away, and even earlier for northern Minnesota.
