A humid air mass more at home during the summer months moved over the southern half of Minnesota on October 17, 2016. In the morning hours of the 17th, air temperatures in the Twin Cities were in the mid 60's. The normal high temperature for October 17 is 58 degrees and the normal low is 39. The Twin Cities saw a dew point temperature of 64 degrees at 3am on the 17th. The dew point temperature for October in the Twin Cities has been as high as 66 degrees on October 29, 2004 at 11am. The record high dew point temperature in the month of October for the Twin Cities is 70 degrees, set on October 14, 1962.
Dew point temperatures were higher to the southeast on October 17, 2016. Rochester saw a record late maximum dew point temperature as well as La Crosse. Rochester saw 68 degrees on October 17, 2016 and La Crosse saw a 70 degree dew point temperature.
Strong thunderstorms developed in this warm air mass ahead of a cold front during the afternoon of the 17th. Some hail was reported with these storms over Brooklyn Park and some penny-sized hail was reported over Eagan and Cottage Grove.
Below are event reports from the National Weather Service.
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TWIN CITIES/CHANHASSEN MN 624 PM CDT MON OCT 17 2016 ..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON... ..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE.... ..REMARKS.. 0530 PM HAIL EAGAN 44.82N 93.16W 10/17/2016 E0.75 INCH DAKOTA MN PUBLIC PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TWIN CITIES/CHANHASSEN MN 624 PM CDT MON OCT 17 2016 ..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON... ..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE.... ..REMARKS.. 0542 PM HAIL COTTAGE GROVE 44.82N 92.93W 10/17/2016 E0.75 INCH WASHINGTON MN PUBLIC RECORD EVENT REPORT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LA CROSSE WI 236 AM CDT TUE OCT 18 2016 ...TIED THE HIGHEST DEW POINT EVER IN AN OCTOBER IN LA CROSSE WI... ...HIGHEST DEW POINT SO LATE IN THE YEAR AT LA CROSSE WI... THE DEW POINT CLIMBED TO 70 DEGREES AROUND 4 PM MONDAY AT LA CROSSE REGIONAL AIRPORT. THIS TIED THE HIGHEST DEW POINT EVER RECORDED DURING AN OCTOBER IN LA CROSSE WI. INCLUDING YESTERDAY THERE HAVE ONLY BEEN 7 OCTOBER DAYS IN WHICH THE DEW POINT HAS REACHED 70F. THE LAST TIME IT OCCURRED WAS OCTOBER 8 2007. THERE HAS ONLY BEEN 4 OCTOBERS SINCE 1934 THAT THERE HAS BEEN AT LEAST ONE 70F DEW POINT. THIS WAS THE HIGHEST DEW POINT SO LATE IN THE YEAR. PRIOR TO YESTERDAY...THE LATEST 70F OR HIGHER DEW POINT IN A YEAR WAS OCTOBER 15TH BACK IN 1962 (70F). DEW POINT RECORDS FOR LA CROSSE WI DATE BACK TO 1934. BELOW ARE HIGHEST OCTOBER CALENDAR DAY DEW POINTS. HIGHEST DEW POINTS BY OCTOBER DAY IN LA CROSSE WI DEW RANK POINT DATE ---- ----- ---- 1 70F OCTOBER 17 2016 70F OCTOBER 8 2007 70F OCTOBER 7 2007 70F OCTOBER 6 2007 70F OCTOBER 4 2005 70F OCTOBER 3 2005 70F OCTOBER 15 1962 8 69F OCTOBER 1 1971 69F OCTOBER 11 1962 10 68F OCTOBER 10 1973 68F OCTOBER 9 1973 68F OCTOBER 8 1973 68F OCTOBER 14 1962 68F OCTOBER 11 1962 68F OCTOBER 1 1951 68F OCTOBER 8 1949 RECORD EVENT REPORT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LA CROSSE WI 1051 PM CDT MON OCT 17 2016 ...HIGHEST DEW POINT SO LATE IN THE YEAR AT ROCHESTER MN... WITH A DEW POINT OF 68F THIS AFTERNOON (BETWEEN 2 PM AND 5 PM) AT ROCHESTER INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT...THIS WAS THE HIGHEST DEW POINT EVER SO LATE IN THE YEAR AT ROCHESTER MN. PRIOR TO TODAY...THE LATEST 68F OR HIGHER DEW POINT IN A YEAR WAS OCTOBER 13TH BACK IN 1962. DEW POINT RECORDS FOR ROCHESTER MN DATE BACK TO 1948. THIS WAS THE 4TH HIGHEST OCTOBER DEW POINT ON A CALENDAR DAY. THE ONLY DAYS WHICH HAD A HIGHER DEW POINT WAS OCTOBER 7 2007 (72F)...OCTOBER 4, 2005 (70F)...AND OCTOBER 3 2005 (70F). BELOW ARE HIGHEST OCTOBER CALENDAR DAY DEW POINTS. HIGHEST DEW POINTS BY OCTOBER DAY IN ROCHESTER MN DEW RANK POINT DATE ---- ----- ---- 1 72F OCTOBER 7 2007 2 70F OCTOBER 4 2005 70F OCTOBER 3 2005 4 68F OCTOBER 17 2016 68F OCTOBER 8 2007 68F OCTOBER 2 2005 68F OCTOBER 7 1997 68F OCTOBER 13 1962 68F OCTOBER 10 1962 68F OCTOBER 8 1949