Record-breaking dew points this week; steamy summery Saturday ahead

We’re off to a record start on tropical air masses this year.

The dew point in the Twin Cities hit 70 degrees for the first time this year Friday afternoon. That breaks the daily dew point record for May 21. You can see how the dew point has bounced around through the tropical mid and upper 60s Friday in the Twin Cities on the temperature and dew point graph below.

MPR weather and climate contributor Mark Seeley emailed to point out that we also set a dew point record on Wednesday.

For the Twin Cities climate record-keeping, we broke the high dew point record for May 19 (Wednesday) this week with a reading of 67 degrees, and again today we broke the high dew point record for May 21 with a reading of 70 degrees. Awfully early in the season for these tropical dew points, but the advection of moist air from the South has been especially strong.

Mark Seeley

Steamy Saturday

Saturday feels more July than May across Minnesota. Highs reach the 80s across most of the state. Temperatures will approach the 90-degree mark late Saturday afternoon in some locations.

Sunday brings a push of cooler and drier air from the north. Watch this dew point loop between 7 p.m. Saturday and Sunday afternoon. You can see the tropical air mass getting shoved south as drier and much cooler air surges in from southern Ontario across Lake Superior.

Sunday’s highs will be dramatically cooler across northern and central Minnesota.