By DJ Kayser, filling in for Douglas:
I think I'm ready to reclassify April through June as puddle duck weather season! From April 1 through June 17, MSP has picked up 14.28 inches of rain. To put that in perspective, from April 1 through Sept. 30 of last year, we saw a total of 15.52 inches — and 14.14 inches during that time frame in 2022.
Heavy rain has led to some fieldwork issues for Minnesota farmers, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Ninety-three percent of corn has emerged, which is slightly behind average. The good news is that 71% of the corn is rated in good to excellent condition.
Most of the state will see a day to dry out on Juneteenth, with more rounds of storms returning Thursday through Saturday. Sunday looks to be the drier day of the weekend.
We have yet to break 90 degrees so far this year, coming as close as 89 last Sunday. We're now three weeks behind the 30-year average (May 29) for the first 90-degree high of the year. Areas farther north, such as Caribou, Maine, are seeing 90-degree weather this week.