Past Weather in the Twin Cities for the August 21, 2017 Eclipse

Solar radiation at the St. Paul Campus Climate Observatory: February 26, 1979.
Solar radiation at the St. Paul Campus Climate Observatory: February 26, 1979.
Courtesy: Journal of the Minnesota Academy of Science, Fall 1994

 

As the event draws near, follow the National Weather Service Forecast.

In the Twin Cities, 83% of the sun will be covered by the moon at 1:06pm CDT August 21, 2017. Looking at recent 1 PM observations in the Twin Cities since the year 2000, skies were mostly sunny (3/8 cloud cover or less) seven of the past 17 years, partly sunny (3/8 to 5/8 cloud cover) five times, and cloudy (7/8 cloud cover or greater) five times. Temperatures have ranged from 65 degrees in 2004 to 84 degrees in 2013. It can occasionally be quite windy with a sustained wind of 17mph with gusts to 24 mph in 2008.

And what should we expect from the August 21st, 2017 eclipse? We should see a noticeable loss of daylight, even if it's cloudy, because up to 83% of the available sunlight will be blocked by the moon. Partial eclipses of the past have produced dusk-like sunlight levels, even during the middle of the day. The 2017 eclipse will occur at a time when temperatures normally would be climbing by a degree or two per hour, but we should expect temperatures to lose ground for an hour or so, possibly affecting our ability to reach what would have been the high temperature otherwise. Although we will not be in the "path of totality," observant Minnesotans will have no problem recognizing the partial eclipse.

Below is a list of sky conditions and weather at 1pm August 21 for past years in the Twin Cities.

Year location       SKY/WX    TMP DP  RH WIND       PRES
---------------------------------------------------------  
2000 TWIN CITIES    CLOUDY    67  60  78 SE10      30.10F 
2001 TWIN CITIES    MOSUNNY   79  64  60 S13       29.83F 
2002 TWIN CITIES    PTSUNNY   69  67  93 SE14      29.86F   
2003 TWIN CITIES    CLOUDY    77  61  57 NW15G22   29.96R  
2004 TWIN CITIES    MOSUNNY   65  34  31 S13       30.05F 
2005 TWIN CITIES    MOSUNNY   71  52  50 NW9       30.12F    
2006 TWIN CITIES    MOSUNNY   83  57  41 VRB3      30.11F   
2007 TWIN CITIES    CLOUDY    74  67  78 NE6       29.84F   
2008 TWIN CITIES    MOSUNNY   83  62  49 S17G24    29.94F     
2009 TWIN CITIES    PTSUNNY   68  54  60 NW13      29.87S     
2010 TWIN CITIES    CLOUDY    77  68  73 NE6       29.93R     
2011 TWIN CITIES    MOSUNNY   74  51  44 SW7       30.03S  
2012 TWIN CITIES    MOSUNNY   76  44  32 S8        30.07F   
2013 TWIN CITIES    PTSUNNY   84  72  67 SW8       29.90R     
2014 TWIN CITIES    PTSUNNY   82  71  69 SE8       29.76F   
2015 TWIN CITIES    CLOUDY    74  58  57 S12G18    29.86S 
2016 TWIN CITIES    PTSUNNY   71  48  43 NW8       29.99R  
Last modified: August 14, 2017
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