Minnesota

What defines a heat wave?

Published

10 months ago

May 14, 2025

Minnesota is in the midst of a sizzling stretch of summer-like weather. Something unique for this time of year.

A packed Nokomis Beach, soaked in sunshine and steaming close to 90 degrees, would make you think it’s a mid-summer day. But it’s just mid-May.

Several beachgoers WCCO talked with described the day as hot but bearable thanks to a lake breeze.

Still, temperatures that feel like late July for a four-day stretch had them calling it a heat wave.

What defines a heat wave?

“I think it’s in the eye of the beholder,” said Ken Blumenfeld, a senior climatologist with the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources.

According to the National Weather Service (NWS), a heat wave is a “period of abnormally hot weather generally lasting more than two days. Heat waves can occur with or without high humidity.”

There was no specific temperature listed, but the NWS added that a heat wave often involves dangerously hot weather that could harm people.

Blumenfeld looks at heat waves from a statistical perspective. “In climatology it’s just extreme warmth relative to the time of year,” he said.

May 11 to May 14, the daily high temperature hit or was forecasted to land around 90 degrees. The average high for this time of year is around 67 to 68 degrees according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). That means the Twin Cities is running least 20 degrees warmer than usual.

“If it’s supposed to be like 60 right now but right now, we’re having all this heat, it’s gotta be a heat wave,” said Ambuskah Little Voice while at the beach with friends.

Blumenfeld also understands that public health workers have their own definition.

“[They] might consider a heat wave to be something that could cause human bodies to have problems keeping itself cool naturally,” said Blumenfeld.

That’s usually in peak summer when high humidity combines with high temperatures, creating dangerous conditions leading to heat stroke and exhaustion.

“Heat during late May and even late September and October tends to be really dry compared to the kind of heat you get in July and August,” said Blumenfeld.

If nights are comfortably cool, is it still a heat wave?

“That’s where it gets a little iffy,” Blumenfeld said.

A heat wave in mid-summer could have nights in the 70s while the air remains thick. In May, the daily low temperatures have settled in the 60s and even 50s, creating a difference of 25 to 30 degrees, even larger during this current heat wave. The air also pleasantly dry.

Could you have a heat wave in the winter?

Beachgoers said both yes and no. Heat isn’t a word typically associated with the coldest time of year, but there’s no denying that it still arrives in surprising fashion.

“We can have heat waves in winter if you’re looking at it statistically,” Blumenfeld said.

Consider late December 2023, the Twin Cities hit 55 degrees on Christmas Eve, then 54 degrees on Christmas day along with relatively high humidity. That’s extreme warmth for the holiday season, heating up the debate on how to label these steamy stretches.

“Defining a heat wave really kind of depends on who’s asking,” Blumenfeld said.

The most recent extreme heat for the month of May came in 2018. That’s when much of Minnesota hit 100 degrees on Memorial Day.

Jeff Wagner

Jeff Wagner joined the WCCO-TV team in November 2016 as a general assignment reporter, and now anchors WCCO’s Saturday evening newscasts. Although he’s new to Minnesota, he’s called the Midwest home his entire life.

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Minnesota

Minnesota United’s Drake Callender, Seattle’s Andrew Thomas duel to 0-0 draw

Published

7 hours ago

March 22, 2026

Press Room

Minnesota United’s Drake Callender, Seattle’s Andrew Thomas duel to 0-0 draw

March 22, 2026 / 6:27 PM CDT
/ AP

Seattle’s Andrew Thomas finished with two saves and Drake Callender did likewise as the Sounders and Minnesota United played to a scoreless draw on Sunday.

It was the third straight and fourth shutout in five starts this season for Thomas. The 27-year-old took the starting reins from mainstay Stefan Frei — now in a backup role. He hasn’t allowed a goal since a 2-1 loss to Real Salt Lake in Seattle’s road opener. He also blanked the Colorado Rapids 2-0 in the season opener at home. Thomas had the lone save of the first half.

Callender notched his second clean sheet in his first season with Minnesota United. Callender and Inter Miami goalkeeper Dayne St. Claire switched teams in the offseason. Callender made 92 starts for Miami beginning in 2022, but only five last season.

Jordan Morris saw his first action for the Sounders (3-1-1) since he was injured in the season opener. Morris entered in the 65th minute along with Jesús Ferreira and 18-year old midfielder Snyder Brunell.

Seattle was coming off back-to-back 1-0 road victories over St. Louis City and the San Jose Earthquakes.

Minnesota United (1-2-2) came in after being outscored 9-1 in two straight road losses to Nashville SC and the Vancouver Whitecaps.

Minnesota swept Seattle during the regular season last year and then eliminated the Sounders in the best-of-three first round of the playoffs, winning twice at home on penalty kicks after 0-0 and 3-3 draws in regulation. Seattle posted a 4-2 victory at home in the middle match.

Up next

Seattle: Visits the Houston Dynamo on April 4.

Minnesota: Visits the Los Angeles Galaxy on April 4.

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Minnesota

Who’s Minnesota’s ‘Blanket Lady’? More than a superfan, she was a women’s basketball pioneer

Published

19 hours ago

March 22, 2026

Press Room

Who’s Minnesota’s ‘Blanket Lady’? More than a superfan, she was a women’s basketball pioneer

Minnesota is in a tough spot. The No. 4 Gophers are down 9 points to No. 13 Green Bay in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

They hadn’t been to March Madness since 2018. Not only that, but also the Gophers earned a host spot. They should win. But the pressure is mounting.

Luckily for them, the Gophers have something Green Bay doesn’t: Blanket Lady.

During a timeout with 6:01 left in the third quarter, the Blanket Lady begins her ritual. She raises the blanket, decorated with a Minnesota emblem, and she runs, waving the maroon and gold fabric as she goes, up the sideline and down the baseline. As she runs, the crowd cheers, louder and louder until she returns to her seat.

“I was saying in the locker room after the game, that’s probably the loudest it’s been, I think, the whole time I have ever been here,” senior Amaya Battle said. “It was a ton of fun. It was nice to have them rally around us.”

The timeout ends, but the energy hangs in the air. Minnesota responded with a 30-8 run, securing a comeback victory and a spot in the Round of 32 for the first time in eight years.

“I feel like we just won the NCAA Tournament,” the Blanket Lady says the next day.

You know who get this game turned around? BLANKET LADY.
She got this crowd on their feet when the #Gophers needed her most! pic.twitter.com/X6NzmSv85q
— GopherHole.com (@GopherHole) March 20, 2026
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You can forgive the exaggerated excitement. She’s better known in The Barn by her Blanket Lady persona, but she’s really 81-year-old Elvera “Peps” Neuman. She’s a superfan who has been hyping up Minnesota supporters at home games since 2004. And she’s loved basketball long before the sport loved women back.

Neuman grew up on a farm in Eden Valley, Minn., with a basket attached to the side of her family’s barn. It was put there for her four older brothers, but Neuman took to the sport. She practiced shooting whenever she could, even when she was milking the cows.

“The milkers were supposed to be on the cows for like, three minutes,” she said. “Well, I thought I could go out there to shoot for three minutes. But sometimes it got to be five or 10 minutes. It probably wasn’t easy on the cows, but we got more milk.”

Neuman’s passion couldn’t be contained to her family farm. She wanted to play for her high school, but in the early 1960s, there were no teams for girls around her, and the boys wouldn’t let her play with them.

“Not to brag,” Neuman said with a laugh, “but I was better than most of the boys anyway.”

In an effort to stay close to the game, Neuman joined the pep club, supporting the same boys who refused to play with her. Then, a conversation with her English teacher changed everything. She told Neuman a team of women were coming to Paynesville, a town just 14 miles down the road, to challenge some of the local coaches.

Neuman went to the game and was in awe of the Harlem Chicks, a team of Black players. As soon as she got home, Neuman wrote a letter to the team’s promoter. She wanted to play for the Chicks. Segregation prevented that, so instead, Neuman joined the Texas Cowgirls barnstorming team. From there, her basketball career took off — at least as much as it could for a woman at that time.

Neuman played basketball until she was 44, and even founded her own barnstorming team, called the Arkansas Gems. Each season, Neuman played in around 140 games, traveling from town to town, sometimes driving 400 miles in one day. It was a grind, but it was all Neuman knew. And it was the only way she could play basketball.

“I loved it,” she said. “I absolutely loved it.”

Elvera “Peps” Neuman started her own barnstorming team when gender rules and segregation kept her from joining teams. (Courtesy of Elvera Neuman)

Every time Neuman walked on the court, she put on a show, once scoring 108 points in a game. That kind of vivaciousness doesn’t just go away, not even at 81 years old. Neuman still brings it to the court, only now, she’s on the sidelines.

“I get more attention from being the Blanket Lady than I ever did from playing basketball,” Neuman said. “That might upset some people, to not get the attention, or the money, but I’m just the opposite. I’m pulling for these girls at 200 percent.”

The Blanket Lady tradition started accidentally in 2006. Neuman serves as a caregiver for her friend and former basketball teammate, Vicky Nelson. Because Nelson is in a wheelchair, the duo sits courtside in an accessible seating section. The blanket was a gift from two other Minnesota fans who noticed that Nelson always draped her jacket over her knees in an effort to keep warm during games.

Overcome by the kindness of the gesture, Neuman held up the blanket to the crowd, and when she did, everyone cheered. Ever the showman, Neuman took the cheers and ran with it — literally — up the sideline. The Blanket Lady was born.

Elvera “Peps” Neuman brings the same energy she brought to the basketball court as a player to her Minnesota courtside seats. (Courtesy of Elvera Neuman)

Neuman and Nelson haven’t missed a Gophers home game since 2004, when All-America point guard Lindsay Whalen was a senior. They certainly won’t miss Minnesota’s March Madness second-round game Sunday against Ole Miss.

If the energy dwindles, Neuman will be ready.

She paved the way for the current Gophers during her barnstorming days, and she’s still doing everything she can to help them succeed.

“I’ll be there,” she said. “I’ll be there with the blanket and my Gophers gear. I love this team.”

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