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Weather chats with Mark Seeley
Cathy Wurzer and Matthew Alvarez

June wraps up as one of the driest and warmest in Minnesota history

Sun rising over Lake Superior with a lighthouse in foreground
The sun rises over Lake Superior and the Duluth North Pier Lighthouse in Duluth, Minnesota, on April 13, 2023. In the far north of the United States, Duluth, population 86,000, is known for its snowy winters and the almost oceanic breeze of the immense Lake Superior. Today, the city is being talked about as a potential future "climate refuge".
STEPHEN MATUREN/AFP via Getty Images

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June was one of the warmest on record, and it’ll likely continue into the first week of July. 

Minnesota has had a reputation for being hot and humid over the Independence Day weekend. The last exceptionally hot Fourth of July weekend was in 2012 when most areas of the state reported temperatures well into the 90s, and seven climate stations reached 100 degrees or greater. 

Retired University of Minnesota climatologist and meteorologist Mark Seeley explained that with the heat, it tends to rain on Independence Day about every two out of five years. But it has only rained six times in the last 25 years in the Twin Cities area. 

There have also been periods of heavy thunderstorm rains washing out fireworks displays. It happened at Milan in Chippewa County in 1995 when they recorded just under 10 inches of rainfall. And the most famous July 4th storm was in 1999 when a derecho windstorm devastated the Boundary Waters Canoe Area with winds of 70 to 100 mph.

This Independence Day forecast looks like it’ll warm up quite a bit, with a slight chance of afternoon thunderstorms extending through the middle of the week. 

MPR News host Cathy Wurzer spoke with Seeley in their weekly weather chat.