5:13 PM Wednesday, August 30, 2023
With meteorological summer 2023 coming to an end (final day is Thursday, August 31st) I figured we would take a look at how similar this summer has been to last summer at least in the temperature department in Duluth.
The average temperature so far for the summer of 2023 (June 1 – August 29) 64.8 degrees, +0.2 degrees above average, while last summer (June 1 – August 31) saw an average temperature of 64.7 degrees, +0.1 degrees above average. We still have today and Thursday to go, but I don’t think will see the average temperature for this summer increase or decrease by much.
50% of days this summer have been cooler than average compared to 40% of days which have been warmer than average, while 10% of days have been normal (not above or below)
Note — We did end up with more 80-degree days in Duluth this summer (28 days) compared to last summer (23 days). The average number of days with a high of at least 80 from June 1st to August 31st is 25 days.
As for precipitation, this summer has been considerably drier in Duluth compared to last summer with 7.17″ of rain so far this summer compared to 11.60″ of rain last summer.
***RECORD HEAT POSSIBLE THIS WEEKEND***
It still looks like will see our first 90-degree temperature of the year in Duluth sometime between September 2nd-4th, and likely our first 90-degree temperature in September since 1984.
The warmest days in Duluth look to be Friday, Saturday and Sunday with highs in the mid to upper 80s with 90s possible especially on Sunday. It does look like will have an east wind on Labor Day, and if that is the case, then temperatures will be much cooler near Lake Superior on Monday with highs around 70.
Record High Temperatures for Duluth for September 2nd-4th
9/2: 92 degrees set in 1983.
9/3: 89 degrees set in 1960.
9/4: 89 degrees set in 1897.
The rest of the Northland (away from Lake Superior) will see highs in the mid 80s to the low-mid 90s on a daily basis from Friday through Monday (Labor Day) with the hottest days looking to be Sunday and Labor Day.
The circles on the maps below represent locations that could see record high temperatures for the dates listed below.
NAM 3km model radar forecast valid 1 PM Thursday to 7 AM Friday.
There could be a few light showers or sprinkles or most likely some virga passing through parts of the Northland Thursday afternoon into Friday morning, but the pattern into early next week continues to look very dry across the Northland.
Note — We could see some showers or thunderstorms late Tuesday or early Wednesday of next week as a cold front moves through the area, but there is plenty of uncertainty in the computer models on whether or not will see any rain with this front the middle of next week, or if this front comes through mostly on the dry side.
Thanks for reading!
Tim
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