Triple-Digit Scorcher: 103 Degrees is Hottest Temperature in Minnesota Since 1988

Yesterday wasn't just hot, it was crazy-hot.

The 103 degrees recorded at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport at 3:26 p.m. yesterday was the fifth hottest day ever recorded in the Twin Cities, according to the National Weather Service, and records go all the way back to 1891. It was also the first time we've topped 100 degrees since July 31, 2006—nearly 6 years.

The temperature, by the way, is measured in the shade.

Lakeville's Airlake Airport weather station topped out at 100 degrees between 2:33 and 4:13 p.m. It didn't creep down below 90 degrees at the airport until 9:53 p.m.

What happened to make it so hot?

According to NWS meteorologist Michelle Margraf, dry air heats up faster than humid air. There was a lot of drier air in the middle levels of the atmosphere to keep dew points at the surface in the middle 50s, unlike the lower 70s the day before.

So, for those who have been to Las Vegas—yesterday's heat was a "dry heat."

According to the Minnesota Climatology Working Group, the Twin Cities has only reached the triple-digits 61 times since 1891. We've only seen 103 degrees 18 times previously, the last coming on July 31, 1988.

Yep, you have to be 22-years-old to have even lived through a day as warm as yesterday.

The hottest temperature ever recorded in Minneapolis-St. Paul was 108 degrees, way back on July 14, 1936, which was during the Dust Bowl era.

According to Fairview Ridges Hospital in Burnsville, only a two people were treated for heat-related illness or sunburn, despite there being both an excessive-heat advisory and a pollution health alert issued.

Fast Facts from the NWS:

   The high of 103° observed at the Minneapolis St. Paul International Airport:

• Breaks the previous June 7th record of 95° set in 2004.
• Was the first 100°+ reading since July 31, 2006.
• Was the first 103°+ reading in almost 23 years, since July 31, 1988.
• Was tied for the second warmest temperature in the past 69 years (July 31, 1988 with 105° was the only warmer one)
• Was the second earliest on record that 103° had occurred, only behind May 31, 1934.
• Fell 1° short of the all-time June record of 104° set on June 27th, 1934.