Heat wave settles over Upper Midwest this week

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It may be summer, but it’s still abnormally hot for this time of year for the Upper Midwest.

The National Weather Service said La Crosse had 11 days in June when the mercury hit at least 90-degrees. That’s the eighth-highest total in the city’s history. The Fourth-of-July is just two days away – and the normal high for the holiday is just 80-degrees in Milwaukee and 82 in Madison. But Wisconsin’s Capital City expects a toasty 95-degrees for this Independence Day. And it’s supposed to be hot all week throughout Wisconsin, with the hottest day expected tomorrow – when even places like Ashland and Hayward in the far north could hit 97-degrees.

A very hot and humid week lies ahead across Minnesota. The National Weather Service predicts highs in the 90's over much of the state, accompanied by elevated dew points which could make afternoon temperatures feel like they're in the 100's. As for today, a heat advisory is in effect from noon through tonight across central and southern Minnesota, as far north as Fergus Falls, Brainerd and Pine City.

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Meanwhile, a relative drought continues in much of the Badger State. La Crosse has only had a trace of rain since June 21st, and the city’s total rainfall for June was one-point-one inches below its normal of three-and-a-quarter. The Weather Service says a warm front is moving through Wisconsin today, bringing a chance of showers-and-thunderstorms. A slight chance of rain is in the statewide forecast for most of the week.

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Forecasters expect temperatures to be in the nineties for much of this week. Dr. David Thorson with the Minnesota Medical Association says it's important to drink lots of liquids. He says dehydration is a significant problem and is one that can take several hours to recover from so it could really ruin your holiday if you get dehydrated early in the day. Dr. Thorson says kids are more susceptible to hydration than adults. He recommends drinking fluids before you head outside for the Fourth.

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It's been a record-setting year for heat use in Minnesota's most populous area. They're known as heating degree days and we often hear about them in winter. The state Climatology Office totaled up all the heating degree days from the most recent year -- July first, 2011 through June 30th, 2012. Between a very warm winter and the spring and summer heat, the Twin Cities area experienced a record low amount of heating degree days. That's going back all the way into the late 1800's. If you like numbers, the latest year saw five-thousand, 852, compared with the normal seven-thousand, 581. The numbers might mean more to many given that heating bills last winter were about one-fourth lower on average.

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The DNR says it won't take much to set off a fire today in northwestern Minnesota. From Hubbard and Cass counties up to the Canadian border, the fire danger rating is very high and getting more extreme as long as rain doesn't fall. The rest of the state remains at low risk for fires but that situation could change as this hot week progresses.

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A very hot and humid week lies ahead across Minnesota. The National Weather Service predicts highs in the 90's over much of the state, accompanied by elevated dew points which could make afternoon temperatures feel like they're in the 100's. As for today, a heat advisory is in effect from noon through tonight across central and southern Minnesota, as far north as Fergus Falls, Brainerd and Pine City.

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Officials in Carlton County are advising residents to enter lakes in the area at their own risk. Following recent flooding, Moosehead and Big Hanging Horn Lake are being tested by the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency. Both lakes were sampled on Friday and will receive a second test today.

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It could take weeks before researchers know how massive flooding has affected Lake Superior. Professor Erik Brown from the University of Minnesota-Duluth says they have picked up the presence of a tiny organism called copepods. Brown says during the daytime, the copepods go down deep into dark places in the lake and then at night they come up to the near surface to eat algae. But, since the water is so dark, the copepods are everywhere in the water column now. Brown says they have also found increased levels of phosphorus, which boosts growth levels. Another by-product of the flooding along the North Shore: an orange haze in the lake water, which was especially noticeable right after the flooding.

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The hot, dry weather has caused an extreme that some never conceived: a ban on fireworks in Wisconsin. Rangers across the border say they are strictly enforcing the ban in parks and forests. Fines go up to 200-dollars and parents can be held liable for any fires started by children. Sparklers are the only things are legal in Wisconsin parks right now and folks are even being discouraged from using them.

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