Summer returns, military joins western fires battle

Aug-tober Sky

Fall was nice while it lasted.

Blustery winds under a leaky fall-like sky are a reminder that we're never too far away from a cold Canadian air mass at this latitude. It's true. The only thing between Minnesota and the Arctic Circle is a barbed wire fence at the Canadian border.

Our out of season Aug-tober storm pulls out Thursday. The system left a trail of multi-inch rainfall totals, and had Minnesotans reaching for garments not seen in months. As the low pressure center swept by the Twin Cities, it nearly challenged the lowest barometric pressure reading ever observed for the month of August.

I asked Dan Luna form the Twin Cities NWS office how close we came to the August pressure record. Here's a brief excerpt from our email exchange.

Hi Paul,

The record low pressure for MSP during the month of Aug is: 994.9

We did not get that low. We were around 997.6  What a storm for August. What a summer!

Thanks!

Daniel Luna,

Meteorologist In Charge

Twin Cities, MN Weather Forecast Office

Here's a good resource to check barometric pressure records from NOAA.

Summer strikes back

The surface wind flow reverses directions over the Upper Midwest Thursday. The incoming air mass transfusion feels like summer with warmer return flow on southerly winds.

Temperatures push the 80-degree mark once again Friday and Saturday. We'll feel a brief humidity spike ahead of Saturday night's cold front. A band of active showers and thunderstorms is possible as the front rolls through Saturday night. Will we have another shot of September-like air early next week?

State Fair forecast flip-flop?

The perils of medium-range forecasting increase as the fall season approaches. Bigger changes on weather models a week or two out as increasingly contrasting air masses jockey for position on the weather maps.

Some of the longer range forecast models have been cranking out potential 90-degree heat for Minnesota by the first weekend of the Fair. The latest runs show a more muted trend, with some rain and temperatures in the 70s and 80s for opening weekend.

Stay tuned for more twists and turns on this weather roller coaster.

Military assisting with western fires

The number of massive fires in the west has already taxed national firefighting resources.

You know it's bad when they call in active military to assist.

Here's more from CNN.

You know the infernos are out of control when 25,000 firefighters aren't enough to stop them.

Now soldiers will join the ranks of firefighters as almost 100 raging wildfires continue burning in 10 Western states.

About 200 active duty military personnel will help battle blazes in Western states, the National Interagency Fire Center said. It's the first time soldiers have fought wildfires since 2006.

About 95 fires have destroyed hundreds of homes and scorched 1.1 million acres in Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana, California, Nevada and Colorado, the center said.

The soldiers will handle "quiet parts of the fire," center spokesman Ken Frederick said.

"That's important because it frees up our more experienced crews to handle more complex dangerous fire situations," he said. Soldiers "could be mopping up, watching for and waiting to put out spot fires and digging fire lines."

The soldiers will come from the 17th Field Artillery Brigade, 7th Infantry Division at Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Washington -- one of the worst-hit states.

Active duty soldiers have been used to fight wildfires 35 times since 1987, the National Interagency Fire Center said.

"The U.S. military has been a key partner in wildland firefighting for decades, and we greatly appreciate their willingness to provide us with soldiers to serve as firefighters," said Aitor Bidaburu, chairman of the National Multi-Agency Coordinating Group.

The military is also providing C-130s equipped to drop large quantities of fire retardant.

Tropical Storm Danny struggles

Danny ran into some drier air in the drier Saharan Air Layer which has slowed down development. Here's an update on Danny from Tropical Tidbits.