Hot, Potentially Dry Summer in Store

(KNSI) – Sunday marked the flipping of the calendar from May to June and the beginning of meteorological summer. Experts warn it will be a hot one.

For those who like it cooler, it may be a small comfort, but it could be a scorcher for the entire country, says senior forecaster Joe Calderone from the National Weather Service Twin Cities office. “The outlook for June, July and August, from the Climate Prediction Center for virtually the entire, not only lower 48, but all 50 states for the temperature outlook has it above normal.”

The signal is strongest for the Southwest and Northeast states, but forecasters expect the Great Lakes and Upper Midwest will bake too. Models seem to be consolidating around a drier-than-normal summer, but Calderone says officials are less confident in that prediction.

He notes it is more difficult to make broad brush assumptions about rainfall. “Precipitation, especially when you get to the summer months, when you’re talking about thunderstorms, where they can be hit or miss, even if they’re organized, that can be highly variable, day to day, obviously week to week, and even month to month.”

Calderone does predict that, in general, things will be dry. It syncs up with the official forecast from the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency. It is calling for a moderately active air quality season due to wildfire smoke from fires burning in kindle-heavy forest.

Northeast Minnesota already saw three large blazes ignite during record temperatures around Mother’s Day weekend.

___