Wet Rut Continues – Growing Risk of “Barry” Basic physics: warmer air can hold more water vapor, more fuel for intense rains. According to NOAA, for the third time in 2019, the record was broken for the wettest 12-month period in the USA; almost 8 inches wetter than average. July 2018 to June 2019 was the 4th wettest such period since 1895 in Minnesota Expect a cool wind today, with showers over northern & western Minnesota. A sunny, quiet Thursday gives way to a weekend warming trend, with 80s and hit-or-miss storms. Models suggest 90s Monday through Wednesday of next week. Prime time summertime. The sweaty days we were daydreaming about a few months ago. Graphic above: ECMWF forecast valid midday Saturday, courtesy of WSI. Messy Spaghetti Plot. Models generally show a westward drift as the system in the Gulf of Mexico intensifies, before an eventual northward pivot by late week; anywhere from Mobile to Lake Charles, Louisiana. Stay tuned. U.S. Has Its Wettest 12 Months on Record – Again. NOAA has details: “…Wet conditions from July 2018 through June 2019 resulted in a new 12-month precipitation record in the U.S., with an average of 37.86 inches (7.90 inches above…