Minnesota’s Corn Fields are Affecting Our Weather for the Next Week

Welcome to the Tropics...right here in Central Minnesota.

With a dew point of 66* F, the air in the St. Cloud area is heavy and sticky.

And it's going to stay that way until next Wednesday.

Dew points in the mid 60s mean the air is humid and may feel uncomfortable.

Dew point refers to the amount of moisture in the air and how close the air is to being saturated. Technically, it's the temperature the air needs to cold down to for water vapor to condense and form dew.

But for most of us, it's a measure of how uncomfortable it is.

But why does it feel downright tropical these days in Central Minnesota?

Well, you may only have to look as far as the nearest field of corn.

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Seriously, the corn is affecting our weather?

In a word, "yep."

It's called "corn sweat" -- officially "evapotranspiration."

It's when fields of corn release water vapor -- with ears of corn "sweating" -- pumping significant amounts of water into the atmosphere.

It's estimated just one acre of corn can send 3,000 to 4,000 gallons of water into the atmosphere.

And all that extra water means higher humidity.

And that makes hot temperatures feel that much hotter.

In fact, the Weather Channel estimates the "feels-like" or "heat index" rises 5 to 10 degrees, just because of corn sweat.

Welcome to the Midwest Corn Sweat Heat Dome

For the next week or so, temperatures will be very warm or downright hot. Temps will climb through the 80s to the low 90s this weekend.

Couple that with corn sweat-infused humidity and you have the ingredients for a hot and sticky, uncomfortable week ahead.

READ MORE: Accuweather 10-Day Forecast for St. Cloud