Star Tribune
Hottest day yet of 2023 will take stage in Twin Cities
Summer’s sizzle is about to take hold of the Twin Cities, with temperatures reaching the mid-90s on the doorstep.
The first hint comes Sunday, according to the National Weather Service (NWS), when the afternoon high is forecast to reach 89 degrees under mostly sunny skies and a light breeze.
By early afternoon, at the newly resurrected Taste of Minnesota festival on Nicollet Mall in Minneapolis, the temperature was 85 and the sunshine made it feel even warmer. So much so that thousands of attendees were using the shade of skyscrapers as protection from the heat, said spokesman Blois Olson.
“I think these are the kinds of days we remember in January,” Olson said of the free event, for which 60,000 passes were distributed. “People are excited to be here. It’s busy, and we expect thousands of people over the course of the day.”
As a precaution, Olson said monitors were out walking the 10-square-block Taste area to keep an eye out for anyone struggling with the higher temperatures. A bevy of beverage vendors helped keep the lines shorter for something cool to drink, he said.
On Monday, the heat is expected to dial up a notch with an anticipated afternoon high of 95, the NWS said.
“Dew points will be moist but not oppressive” on Monday, according to an NWS forecast statement posted Sunday morning, “so heat indices shouldn’t be too much hotter than the air temp.”
There’s also no indication of smoky conditions adding to the discomfort as has been experienced in recent weeks in the Twin Cities that were caused by wildfires hundreds of miles away in Canada.
While 95 would fall far short of the Twin Cities’ hottest July 3, when the temperature touched 100 in 1990, we should be in store for our hottest day yet this year. The weather service said we’ve warmed up to 92 degrees four times in 2023: June 4, 21, 22 and 23.
A chance of thunderstorms Monday night and again on Tuesday — the July Fourth holiday — is expected to pull the mercury down a fair bit to a high topping out at 88.
From there, conditions are expected to cool down even more. High temperatures Wednesday and Thursday should peak at no more than 77 degrees, the weather service said.
Star Tribune
Judge gives driver year in jail for being drunk, fatally hitting man in Minnesota street
A driver was given a year in jail Wednesday for being drunk when he fatally hit a man in the street near St. Cloud.
Tyler J. Nies, 26, of Sartell, Minn., was sentenced in Benton County District Court after pleading guilty to criminal vehicular homicide in connection with the crash shortly before 11 p.m. on July 28 in Sauk Rapids near the intersection of N. Benton Drive and N. 8th Street that killed Kevin D. Oehmen, 47, of Sauk Rapids.
Judge Robert Raupp opted for the year in jail while setting aside a 5¾-year term. Raupp also ordered Nies to serve 10 years’ probation, perform 80 hours of community work service, complete a chemical assessment attend a victim impact panel, abstain from mood-altering chemicals and stay away from bars.
According to the criminal complaint:
An officer at the scene noticed that Nies smelled of alcohol. Nies initially said he had one beer before driving his pickup. A preliminary breath test by the officer measured Nies’ blood alcohol content at 0.129%, more than 1 1⁄2 times the legal limit in Minnesota.
Upon further questioning, Nies said that before driving he drank three beers, which were about 16 ounces each.
Nies told police he was heading north on Benton Drive in the right-hand lane and suddenly saw a man walking in the grassy area next to the curb “like he was going to cross the road,” the complaint read. Police Chief Perry Beise added that Oehmen was on a street with no marked crosswalk.
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A small fire of three to five acres has been detected in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, but it was holding in place as of Wednesday morning.
The fire was discovered Tuesday and is located on an island in Wood Lake, north of County Road 18, according to a news release from the Superior National Forest. The area is to the northeast of Ely.
The release said the fire was smoldering and holding in place due to good overnight relative humidity levels and light to no wind. However, Superior National Forest is experiencing drought conditions and above average temperatures, and increased winds are expected later this week.
The Forest Service is using aircraft to cool the fire and initiate suppression actions. Firefighters are also engaging with the fire, but ground conditions are difficult, the release said.
“This is an ever-changing event, and we ask the traveling public to stay away from the area and seek alternate routes,” the release said.
The fire is burning among timber and heavy, dead balsam fire, the release said. The origin has not yet been investigated, but it is believed to be human caused.
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