Was it hot enough for you?
Sunday was much hotter than a normal autumn day, hot enough for a last hurrah for wearing shorts, hot enough to set a record. It might also be the last summer-like day we'll see until, well next summer, or at least later in spring.
The National Weather Service at La Crosse, reports the high at Rochester International Airport was 84, which is 2 degrees warmer than the previous record of 82 set in 1934. The average temperature was 70 degrees, a full 20 degrees above normal. Normal highs in early August are 80 degrees.
The month, however, has not been overly warm. The service reports it's been 53.7 degrees on average, a mere 1.4 degrees above normal.
The biggest story of this month's weather is that it's been dry. The total recorded rainfall is 0.1 inch, 0.97 inch below normal.
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Temperatures will drop today into the weekend but the dry trend will continue, with a slight chance of showers Thursday.
Outside of that, highs will be in the low 60s, dropping into the upper 50s toward the end of the week; those temperatures are very close to normal, according to the service. Lows will be in the upper 30s to low 40s.
The big weather story for today and parts of the coming week is the wind, with the strong winds predicted for today, tonight and Wednesday. Over the weekend, gusts were pushing 40 mph.
Because of those winds, the service has posted a wind advisory from this morning to 6 p.m. today. Gusts could be as strong as 45 mph. That means high-profile trucks could be harder to drive and loose objects could be blown around.
Into Iowa, the service reports that there's also a chance for grass or crop fires because it's been so dry and winds there will also be strong.
