Status quo: sun, smoke and perfect temps for many

Yes, I feel a little like the Maytag repairman weather guy this week: Feet up on the Weather Lab desk, gazing dreamily out the window at a pasty blueish white smoke tinted sky.

Welcome to San Diego, with 10,000 lakes. And forest fires upstream.

Now you know what it was like to be the weatherman in Arizona for the better part of a decade. Actually it's quite interesting how people become more attuned to subtle changes in "more stable" climates like San Diego and Arizona. People tend to notice smaller fluctuations in daily weather. A change in wind direction. A slight rise in humidity. A few clouds over a nearby mountain range that may signal the prelude to the coming Summer Monsoon.

In Minnesota our weather changes are usually about as subtle as getting smacked in the head with a 2 x 4.

Not this week.

• .13 inch rainfall output for Twin Cities next seven days (Global Forecast System model)

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Weather winning streak?

Most (not all) Minnesotan's would agree we're in the midst of a weather winning streak. One thing you learn here, people prefer different kinds of weather. If lots of sun and 80 degrees is your thing, you're in luck.

Here's a look at the lazy ridge of high pressure nosing into western Minnesota. A cooler northerly flow still triggers a few scattered thundershowers in northeast Minnesota and Wisconsin through tomorrow.

The best shot at a pop up thundershower sailing by quickly toward the southeast? East of a line from Hibbing, Minnesota and Duluth to Menomonie, Wisconsin and Rochester, Minnesota.

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Steady as she goes

Talk about a 'steady state' forecast. Here's the Global Forecast System version of events through the weekend. Scattered shower chances may return as we approach this weekend, but many more dry and sunny hours will prevail.

Minnesota crop report: Hit or miss

What happens when you get the wettest year on record through spring and early summer, then shut off the faucet? Farmers scratching their heads wondering when it will rain again in late July.

Here's an excerpt from this week's Minnesota Crop Report.

Crop conditions in Minnesota fared well but development

remained behind normal for the week ending July 27, 2014,

according to the USDA National Agricultural Statistics

Service.

Farmers in southern Minnesota would like to see their

crops receive a shot of rain to recharge moisture levels, while

farmers in the northern part of the state experienced heavy

rains earlier in the week. There were 5.4 days suitable for

fieldwork across the state.

Topsoil moisture supplies were rated 1 percent very short,

12 percent short, 79 percent adequate, and 8 percent surplus.

Subsoil moisture supplies were rated 0 percent very short,

7 percent short, 84 percent adequate, and 9 percent surplus.

Cool again in July

Most areas squeaked out a near to slightly warmer than average June. So far the Twin Cities and much of the region is running about 2.3 degrees cooler than average in July.

Here's the July data from the Grand Forks National Weather Service in the Red River Valley.

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Enjoy the nice forecast!