29. Very little rain lately, a cold late-June night in northern Minnesota, and storms early July 2nd.
In the last twenty days (since June 13th) I have measured only 0.76" of rain total. If the weather pattern does not change, we'll be re-entering the drought of the past three years.
I captured this screenshot (to the right) from my GRlevel3 on June 28th, that shows radar estimated rainfall from the previous evening. A nice thunderstorm blew northeast through Ashland and Madeline Island on the 27th. Here are some reports from that heavier band of rain:
1.41" Madeline Island, Ashland Co. 1.00" Whittlesey Creek, Ashland Co. 0.64" Ashland, Ashland Co.
The rest of the area measured less than half-an-inch, I had 0.50" in the gauge the next morning.
Frost?!? It's almost July!!
I didn't have frost at my house, but a few locations got terribly close. Perhaps the overall air temperature wasn't very cold, but radiational cooling may have made exposed surfaces frosty, this last Monday morning.
I pulled this screenshot (to the left) from NWS Duluth's Public Information page. In the winter, Embarrass (Mapquest) or nearby Tower, MN is usually the coldest location in Minnesota, but in summer?
A friend was working in the Moquah Barrens up on top of the Bayfield Peninsula that morning, and he too reported frost in the open & sandy frost-pockets. I recorded a morning low of 54.4 degrees, but my proximity to the Lake kept temperatures from falling.
July started warm.
I measured a high of 80.9 degrees on July 1st, and 85.9 degrees on the 2nd.
This graphic (to the right) shows data from my personal weather station from Tuesday morning through Wednesday morning, one day's span. A cold front swept across the region during the early morning hours of Wednesday, bringing sweeping changes across the western Great Lakes. I circled the drastic temperature drop on the top of the graph and the rainfall coinciding with the lowest pressure towards the graph's bottom. Temperatures today, behind that front, have been pleasant and ten degrees cooler today than yesterday.
The cold front brought a few storms across the north.
The storms were severe during the afternoon hours back across northern Minnesota, producing reports of hail the size of pennies & nickels.
As the storms continued to slide southeast, across Lake Superior and into Wisconsin, they still brought a threat of hail. Enough of a threat that the Storm Prediction Center (SPC) had issued Severe Thunderstorm Watch #650 from 21:30 until 04:00 the next morning for western Lake Superior and the northern tier of counties in Wisconsin.
I woke to a Severe Thunderstorm Warning that was issued for northern Bayfield County at 00:31 for the towns of Cornucopia, Port Wing, Bayfield, Washburn, and La Pointe (on Madeline Island). The storms were moving pretty fast off the Lake to the southeast at 51 mph! National Weather Service radar detected possible hail in the storms, which prompted the warning. As I watched the newest radar volume scans, the storms weakened enough that hail was no longer a threat. I was in back in bed by 1:15.
Gusty winds and some rain.
The only storm report from this line of storms came as they moved ashore in Bayfield County (to the right) came from Port Wing. A gust of 58 mph is technically severe by severe weather definitions.
I was hopeful that the line of storms would at least bring some needed rainfall, I was dissapointed by the meger amount in my raingauge this morning, but several locations received respectable amounts. Some reports from the area:
Cool today, tonight, tomorrow, but will bounce back.
The cold front brought a breath of cooler air from northwestern Hudson Bay, which will bring another cool night (upper 30s possible in northern Minnesota!) and a cool day is forecast by the NWS in Duluth for tomorrow (to the left). However, July 4th will be perfect before the warmth returns for the weekend. The forecast remains dry until the end of the weekend since the computer models show a very quiet pattern.
Frost?!? It's almost July!!
July started warm.
The cold front brought a few storms across the north. 
Gusty winds and some rain. 
Cool today, tonight, tomorrow, but will bounce back.