For the second day in a row, record heat hit central and southern Minnesota. A warm front lifted northward across Minnesota on May 23 with warm and humid air surging northward out of Iowa. On May 24, it was even hotter with sunny skies boosting the temperatures in the lower to mid 90's for much of central and southern Minnesota. In contrast, a north breeze off Lake Superior kept things cool along the North Shore. While it was 95 degrees at 4pm in Waseca, it was 52 degrees at the Duluth Harbor with visibilities down to a quarter of a mile in dense fog. The highest temperature found was 97 degrees at Cambridge, Red Wing, and St. James.
The Twin Cities tied a record high of 88 degrees on May 23, tieing the old record of 88 in 1874. The maximum temperature on May 24 was 95 degrees, easily breaking the old record high of 88 degrees set back in 1875. St. Cloud also set a record maximum temperature on May 24 with 94 degrees, breaking the old record of 88 set back in 1980.
The hot humid conditions provided fuel for some strong thunderstorms and heavy rains. Some severe thunderstorms were reported as well with large hail across parts of northern Minnesota on May 23. 3.91 inches of rain fell on May 23 in Duluth. This was the most precipitation recorded for Duluth for a single calendar day in May. The old record was 3.02 inches on May 22, 1884.
Below are Local Storm Reports and Record Event Statements from the Nation Weather Service
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DULUTH MN
959 AM CDT MON MAY 24 2010
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0507 AM HAIL SOUDAN 47.82N 92.24W
05/24/2010 M1.50 INCH NORTHEAST ST. LOUI MN LAW ENFORCEMENT
LOTS OF HAIL...MOST WAS 1 INCH. DAMAGE TO
VEHICLES/SKYLIGHTS/TREES STRIPPED OF LEAVES.
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT...SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DULUTH MN
708 AM CDT MON MAY 24 2010
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
1032 PM HAIL WILLOW RIVER 46.32N 92.84W
05/23/2010 M0.88 INCH PINE MN TRAINED SPOTTER
1034 PM HAIL MOOSE LAKE 46.45N 92.77W
05/23/2010 M0.75 INCH CARLTON MN LAW ENFORCEMENT
0146 AM HAIL EMILY 46.76N 93.96W
05/24/2010 M0.75 INCH CROW WING MN TRAINED SPOTTER
0205 AM HAIL 5 SE GRAND RAPIDS 47.18N 93.45W
05/24/2010 M1.00 INCH ITASCA MN TRAINED SPOTTER
0242 AM HAIL COLERAINE 47.31N 93.42W
05/24/2010 M0.50 INCH ITASCA MN TRAINED SPOTTER
0300 AM HAIL BOWSTRING 47.54N 93.80W
05/24/2010 M0.75 INCH ITASCA MN TRAINED SPOTTER
0352 AM HAIL NASHWAUK 47.38N 93.17W
05/24/2010 M1.00 INCH ITASCA MN TRAINED SPOTTER
0400 AM HAIL BIG FALLS 48.19N 93.81W
05/24/2010 M0.75 INCH KOOCHICHING MN TRAINED SPOTTER
DIME SIZE HAIL FOR ABOUT 10 MINUTES
0700 AM HEAVY RAIN DULUTH 46.78N 92.12W
05/24/2010 M3.91 INCH ST. LOUIS MN OFFICIAL NWS OBS
STORM TOTAL RAIN