Summer 2005 Saint Cloud Hot Weather Facts

Most Often Cited Statistic Not True in Saint Cloud

While the Twin Cities managed to have 9 consecutive days (July 9-17) with a high of at least 90°F, Saint Cloud was one degree short of a similar streak. The high on Tuesday, July 12 "only" reached 89°F. There were two official heat waves (3 or more days with a high of at least 90°F) in Saint Cloud on July 9-11 and July 13-17. The five-day streak had been most recently duplicated in 1995 and 2001. Longer recent streaks include a seven-day streaks in 1988 and 1995.

The 12th 90-degree high of the summer was set on August 8. The normal number of 90-degree days for a given summer is 11.4 days. During recent years, there were as many or more 90-degree days during the summers of 1989 (11 days), 1995 (15 days), 1999 (12 days), 2001 (18 days), and 2003 (12 days). Note at right that, during the extreme heat wave and drought of 1988, there were 33 days with a high of at least 90 degrees.

Hottest High of This Year or Previous Years?

Despite the warm July and early August, the hottest Saint Cloud temperature for the year so far (and the hottest since 2001) was the 98°F high on June 23.

98°F is the hottest temperature we've seen in Saint Cloud since 1990. However, that is a reflection of how cool the summers since 1990 have been.

Extreme Lows for the Year Becoming Significant

The 70-degree low on August 8 was the 7th of the year, tying 2005 with 2 other years. This is the most 70-degree lows since 1955. The average number of 70-degree lows in a year is 3.02 days.

The one day in June had a low temperature of 76°F, only the 51st day in Saint Cloud history with a low temperature of 75°F or warmer.

August Cool Weather have Knocked Temperatures to Near Normal

The cooler than normal weather since August 10th have knocked the temperatures to near normal. On August 10th, the average temperature for August was 74.2°F, seven degrees above normal and warm enough to push the Summer of 2005 to 7th place on the list of Saint Cloud's ten warmest summers. However, the cooler weather knocked August back to less than a degree warmer than normal.

Thus, the summer average ended up being 3.0°F warmer than normal, but only ranking as the 21st warmest summer on record. It was, however, the warmest summer average since 1988. That reflects how cool summers have been since 1990, not how extreme this summer was.

Mid-Summer Dry Period Won't Show in Summer Records

The heavy rainfall on August 26 drowned out the dry conditions we've had for most of the summer. During the period of June 15 through August 25, rainfall in Saint Cloud was four inches below normal. This rainfall shortage, which was concentrated from Willmar through Saint Cloud east and southeastward to Pine City and the northern and western suburbs of the Twin Cities Metropolitan area, can be best seen in the August 22 growing season rainfall map from the Minnesota State Climatology Office shows rainfall 20%-30% below normal from Saint Cloud south and east to the northern and western suburbs of the Twin Cities. After the storm (August 29 rainfall map), only much of Sherburne County and northeastern Wright County have seasonal rainfall 10-20% below normal. The rest of the dry conditions are limited to the Saint Croix Valley and northeastern Minnesota.

Without the first two weeks in June and the big August 27 rainfall, the nine-week total, if maintained through the summer, would have ranked as the second driest summer in Saint Cloud history. Instead, the overall summer ended up 1.62 inches below normal.

The actual effect of the dry spell was worse than the numbers show due to both the intense heat (increasing water usage) and getting a lot of rain on a few days (more rain runs off into rivers and lakes, but less gets into the soil). Note that the August 23 Drought Monitor from the National Drought Mitigation Center shows only that a few areas in extreme eastern Minnesota and the Duluth-Two Harbors area are part of the moderate drought conditions that dominate Wisconsin, Upper Michigan, and eastern Iowa.

The last significant dry spell that was similar to this year was a 10-month dry period from July 15, 2003 through the rest of the 2003 growing season and continuing through mid-May 2004 after the ground thawed. The rainfall deficit from mid-summer 2003 through April 2004 in Saint Cloud reached more than six and three-quarters inches until the rains came. Although this 10-month dry period could not compare to Minnesota's last major drought during 1986-1989, the period was intense enough to cause much of the state to be classified in the moderate to severe drought categories