FARGO – After a three-week period that included relatively high humidity for most of July and afternoon highs that were consistently between 80 and 90 degrees Fahrenheit, our weather turned cool last week. Upper-altitude winds that blew weather from the Hudson Bay region into the northern plains gave us this respite from mid-summer. What made this weather interesting, however, was that in the far northwest of Canada, even north of the Arctic Circle, temperatures exceeded 90 degrees Fahrenheit.
Last week, the polar jet stream flowed northward through Alaska and over the Arctic Ocean before drifting southwest, delivering Hudson Bay weather here before heading northeast again. A weather pattern of such large amplitude is unusual for summer and could be a harbinger of a disrupted polar vortex pattern this winter, which would likely mean we are in for a cold winter season.
John Wheeler is chief meteorologist at WDAY, a position he has held since May 1985. Wheeler grew up in the South in Louisiana and Alabama and says his family’s move to the Midwest was important in developing his fascination with weather and climate. Wheeler lived in Wisconsin and Iowa as a teenager. He attended Iowa State University and earned his bachelor’s degree in meteorology in 1984. Wheeler worked at WOI-TV in central Iowa for about a year before moving to Fargo and WDAY.
