Nice weather continues through Wednesday; Rain chances Thursday-Friday with cooler temperatures. 60-day Northland rainfall totals in this post, some locations have picked up over 16" of rain since mid May

/Issued 7:35 PM CDT, Monday, July 16, 2018/

Total Rainfall Map for the 60-day period from May 17 to July 16, 2018

Rainfall totals have been well above average in most of northeast Minnesota and northwest Wisconsin since mid May, but the extreme northeast portion of Minnesota around the Grand Marais and Grand Portage areas have had a lot less rain since mid May with totals of roughly around 6 inches or so, while other locations in our area have picked up over a foot of rain, with some spots picking up 20 inches or more of rain since mid May!

Note: Rain totals in the Twin Ports since May 16 have ranged from a little less than 10 inches at the Duluth Airport to over 13 inches in Superior (Airport location)

Source: http://wx.graphics/

Total Precipitation Anomaly Map from May 17 through July 16, 2018.

Source: https://weathermodels.com

Still noticing some differences between the Euro and GFS models for the late week rain system, both models show at least some rain for Duluth and points north, but the amounts are different with the Euro forecasting lighter rainfall amounts while the GFS has heavier rain totals farther north including in the Twin Ports and Iron Range. Note: Timing of this rain looks to be from Thursday afternoon through Friday but this could change, and the area of heaviest rainfall may also shift a bit in coming days, stay tuned.

Source: https://weathermodels.com

Source: https://lab.weathermodels.com

Most of the U.S. has had a warm first half of July with above normal temperatures over a large portion of the country.

Northland Rainfall Totals from May 17 to July 16, 2018

Source: https://www.weather.gov/dlh/

3 S Ashland, WI: 17.08 inch

3 E Orr, MN: 14.90 inch

Ashland, WI: 14.64 inch

4 E Island Lake, MN: 14.16 inch

7 NW Two Harbors, MN: 13.64 inch

Superior, WI: 13.48 inch

Brainerd, MN: 9.85 inch

Duluth Airport: 9.59 inch

International Falls, MN: 9.37 inch

Cass Lake, MN: 9.18 inch

Grand Marais, MN: 6.58 inch

Grand Portage, MN: 5.28 inch

July 1 through 15, 2018 Climate Stats for Duluth, Minnesota

Average Temperature: 71.6 degrees

Departure: +6.3 degrees above normal

12 days with a high temperature of at least 80 F

Total Rainfall: 3.11 inches

Departure: +1.07 inches above normal

5 days with thunder

Weather Synopsis

A breezy and less humid day across our area with a mix of sun and clouds. Highs ranged from the mid 60s to around 70 degrees in far northern Minnesota to the 70s and lower 80s elsewhere. West or northwest winds gusted to 25 to around 40 mph today.

Quiet weather continues through mid week as high pressure over Manitoba province heads southeast through the upper Midwest on Tuesday, this high will then move toward the southern Great Lakes on Wednesday.

Clear to partly cloudy skies are expected through Wednesday. Lows tonight in the 40s and 50s, highs Tuesday in the 70s with 60s near Lake Superior. Highs Wednesday in the 70s to lower 80s with winds turning southwest which will boost our high temps by a few degrees.

Rain chances for late this week, mainly from Thursday afternoon through Friday but scattered rain showers could linger into the weekend, especially on Saturday. Still seeing some differences in the computer models with the amount of rain that falls in our area, but it does look like the majority of the Northland will get at least some rain late this week, whether or not it’s heavy rain or just light rain is uncertain at the moment.

Note: One sunset pic and a couple of sunrise pictures I’ve taken the last few days. Sunrise pics were taken from Park Point in Duluth, Minnesota (Lake Superior) Sunset picture taken just a little south of Duluth, Minnesota. Enjoy!