A heat wave packing hot southern air blanketed North Dakota and western Minnesota Saturday.
Bismarck, N.D., set an all-time June record of 111 degrees. The high broke the city's old record of 107 degrees set June 27, 1988, and June 30, 1921.
The temperature in Fargo hit 97 degrees Saturday. The record for the date is 100, set in 1931.
Jamestown also set a record for the date, at 99 degrees. The previous mark was 98, set in 1963.
Elsewhere in the state, highs climbed to 107 in Hettinger, 99 in Dickinson, 94 in Minot and 93 in Grand Forks.
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"Stay inside if you can," Priscilla Bridenstine, a meteorologist for the National Weather Service in Grand Forks, said Saturday. "And drink lots of water."
The weather service issued a heat advisory Saturday for seven counties in southeast North Dakota and eight counties in Minnesota.
North Dakota counties in the advisory included Steele, Traill, Barnes, Cass, Ransom, Sargent and Richland.
Forecasters expected the afternoon heat index in the region to rise to between 105 and 110 degrees.
Bridenstine said the scorching heat was caused by a hot and humid flow bringing warm air from the south into our region.
Fortunately, Bridenstine said, some brief relief from the heat should arrive today.
A weak cold front drifting into the area is expected to drop temperatures into the mid-80s by this afternoon.
"It won't feel so bad as it has the last couple of days," Bridenstine said.
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Tonight's low is expected to dip to 62 degrees. Monday's forecast calls for a high of 85 degrees with a 40 percent chance of thunderstorms.
Readers can reach Forum reporter Cole Short at (701) 241-5557
