Record Heat and Strong Storms: May 23-24 2010

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


Last modified: May 6, 2016
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