It shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone that we are going to warm things up in Sioux Falls in July. After all, it is the hottest month of the year on average in the Mount Rushmore State's largest city, with a typical daytime high temperature of 84 degrees.

But in 2020, weather experts say our traditionally warmest month will be particularly toasty this year, especially in the middle part of July.

July Heat
National Weather Service
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National Weather Service models have Sioux Falls in an area of more than 20 states that have a moderate risk of excessive heat between July 7 and July 11.

The extended forecast for next week backs up that model.

Tuesday (July 7) is expected to top out at 89 degrees in Sioux Falls, with 90 expected Wednesday (July 8), 91 Thursday (July 9), 88 Friday (July 10), and 90 Saturday (July 11).

Forecasters say this heatwave will give us temperatures we haven't seen in this area since back-to-back warmer than usual Julys in 2011 and 2012.

Nine years ago, Sioux Falls highs were running about five degrees above normal, only to be surpassed a year later by the second hottest July on record in Sioux Falls, with an average daytime high of 94 degrees.

Later that summer, the temperature in Sioux Falls hit triple digits - topping out at 104 on August 30, 2012. The city has not seen a day top the century mark since.

These warmer mercury readings track with when the experts were predicting a few months ago when the NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information said there was a near 75 percent chance that 2020 would be the warmest year ever.


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