>> CATHY: LIKE TRUE MINNESOTANS, WE JUST LOVE TALKING ABOUT THE WEATHER HERE ON "ALMANAC."

IT'S ONE OF MY FAVORITE SEGMENTS.

AND A COUPLE OF TIMES A YEAR, WE MAKE IT EVEN MORE FUN BY HAVING BOTH OF OUR WEATHER GURUS JOIN US ON THE COUCH.

MARK SEELEY IS THE AUTHOR OF "MINNESOTA WEATHER ALMANAC" AND A PROFESSOR EMERITUS AT THE UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA.

AND PAUL DOUGLAS RETURNS.

WHEN HE'S NOT VISITING US MONTHLY HERE IN STUDIO B, YOU CAN READ HIS WEATHER MUSINGS IN THE "STAR TRIBUNE."

HE'S SO BUSY RUNNING HIS OWN WEATHER COMPANY PRE-DICT-IX THAT TODAY WAS HIS LAST DAY ON WCCO RADIO.

LEAVING "ALMANAC" AS HIS ONLY REGULAR BROADCAST WEATHER GIG.

>> I HOPE TO DO THIS ANOTHER 50, 60, 70 YEARS.

>> Cathy: I HOPE SO, HON.

OKAY, YOU HAVE HAD, LIKE, WHAT, A 50-YEAR BROADCAST CAREER?

>> YEAH, I STARTED IN HIGH SCHOOL ON THE RADIO, ND -- >> Cathy: OH, MY GOSH.

>> ANTWONE RADIO STATION LED TO 11 RADIO STATIONS, A LITTLE COMPANY, SO I GOT THE TASTE OF HAVING MIGHT OWN COMPANY AND THAT TURNED INTO A THING BUT, YEAH, I LOVE RADIO.

I LOVE TELEVISION BUT I DIDN'T WANT TO DEPEND ON RADIO AND TELEVISION.

I ANTED TO HAVE SOMETHING ELSE THAT I COULD DEPEND ON.

>> Cathy: SO YOU'RE NOT REALLY COMPLETELY UTTERLY RETIRED, JUST KNOWING YOU -- >> NO, NO, NO, IF I COULD GOLF, MAYBE, BUT, NO.

>> Cathy: OKAY.

>> Eric: YOU GUYS ARE HALF THE MOUNT RUSHMORE OF WEATHER.

DID EITHER OF YOU FIND IT DIFFERENT -- DIFFICULT TRANSITION FROM KIND OF THE OLD-FASHIONED WEATHER TO NOW CLIMATE CHANGE AND ALL THE PECULIARITIES THAT IT BRINGS?

HAS THAT BEEN AN EVOLUTION FOR FORECASTING AND FOR HOW YOU LOOK AT THE WEATHER?

>> YEAH, MOST OF MY COLLEAGUES WILL TELL YOU, AS A PROFESSOR AT THE "U," ERIC, I WAS A SLOW LEARNER AND I HAD TO SEE THE DATA AND THE DATA BECAME REALLY EMPHATIC IN THE '90s.

IN FACT, PAUL AND I WERE JUST TALKING ABOUT THAT BEFORE THE PROGRAM.

SO I STARTED BEING A METEOROLOGIST AND CLIMATOLOGIST IN THE '70s AND THEN IT TOOK ME TO THE THEN 90ED AND THEN ALL OF A SUDDEN THE MEASUREMENTS AND SIGNAL CHANGE WAS BECOMING SO EVIDENT, AND CATHY HAS HEARD ME SAY THIS, THE STATE TAKE STARTS SCREAMING AT YOU.

HEY, YOU'RE A SCIENTIST, PAY ATTENTION TO THIS.

>> Eric: DID YOU HAVE A SIMILAR TRANSITION OR EPIPHANY?

>> I THINK EVERYBODY HAS THEIR OWN AH' HA MOMENT BUT I THINK TELEVISION METEOROLOGISTS HAVE A MORAL AND SCIENTIFIC OBLIGATION, I WOULD SAY, TO CONNECT THE DOTS AND COMMUNICATE THE STATE OF THE SCIENCE.

EVEN IF IT MAKES THEM SQUIRM, EVEN IF IT MAKES THEM UNHAPPY, I THINK WE HAVE A DUTY TO TALK ABOUT IT.

I WAS TALKING ABOUT IT IN THE '90s, MUCH TO MY DETRIMENT BECAUSE LOCAL TELEVISION IS A POPULARITY CONTEST, AND YOU KNOW 30% OF THE AUDIENCE IS NOT GOING TO WANT TO HEAR THIS.

BUT I THINK WE HAVE AN OBLIGATION TO TALK AND -- AND TODAY -- IN FACT, CAN I -- WE WERE GEEKING OUT, MARK AND I, BACK IN THE LUNCHROOM ABOUT THE HEAT INDEX IN LAC QUI PARLE COUNTY, WHAT WAS IT?

>> 113 TODAY.

>> Cathy: WHAT?

ON FRIDAY -- >> MOST OF UP AND DOWN WESTERN MINNESOTA WAS 105 TO 113 HEAT INDEX TODAY BETWEEN 3:00 p.m. AND 5:00 p.m. >> Cathy: IN LAC QUI PARLE COUNTY.

>> MADISON, HEADWATERS OF THE MINNESOTA RIVER VALLEY.

>> Eric: DID YOU BRING A GRAPHIC?

>> THE HSU POINT WAS 81.

I THINK SOME OF THAT MIGHT BE SWEATY CORN, EVAPORATION WHICH IS PUTTING MORE MOISTURE INTO THE AIR.

>> Cathy: SPEAKING OF MOISTURE, WE HAVE THIS SITUATION IN MINNESOTA, THE WEATHER WHIPLASH FROM DRY, RIGHT, DRY WINTER, RIDICULOUS WINTER AND NOW LOOK AT THIS, WE'VE SO MUCH MOISTURE.

>> LAST YEAR, BETWEEN APRIL 1st AND JULY 26th, WE HAD 5.8, SO THAT WAS THE 4th DRIEST ON RECORD.

FAST-FORWARD TO THIS EAR, THE METRO UP TO 21.26, SECOND WETTEST SUCH PERIOD SINCE 1871.

ONLY 2014 WAS WETTER AND YOU SAID THAT -- I MEAN, 2019, THE WETTEST YEAR STATEWIDE?

>> STILL THE WETTEST YEAR STATEWIDE, OVER 235 INCHES OF ANNUAL PRECIPITATION ON A STATEWIDE BASIS.

THAT'S OVER 1500 OBSERVATION ATTENTIONS, PAUL, SO THAT'S A LOT.

>> AND THAT KIND OF WENT OFF A CLIFF.

>> WE D. >> A THREE-YEAR DROUGHT.

>> WE DID.

>> Eric: WHAT DID YOU BRING TO ILLUSTRATE -- >> THE STATEWIDE YEAR-TO-DATE NUMBERS, ERIC, ILLUSTRATE WHERE WE'RE AT AND WE'VE SURPASSED ALL THE PREVIOUS HISTORY FOR THE STATEWIDE AVERAGE VALUES OF PRECIPITATION UP TO TODAY.

AND IT'S REMARKABLE THE PACE, AND THE PACE, I MIGHT ADD, FURTHER, CATHY AND I TALKED ABOUT THIS EARLIER, IS BOTH DUE TO QUANTITIES WHICH IS A CLIMATE CHANGE SIGNAL, YOU KNOW, WHEN WE GET IT, WE GET A LOT, BUT ALSO FREQUENCY.

WE'VE HAD SOME PLACES THAT HAVE REPORTED HALF TO TWO-THIRDS OF THE DAYS HAVE BROUGHT MEASURABLE PRECIPITATION SINCE APRIL.

THAT IS A VERY HIGH FREQUENCY.

NO WONDER WE'VE SEEN MOSS GROWING ALL OVER THE PLAYING AND THINGS LIKE THAT.

>> UNGLE-LIKE OUT THERE.

>> Cathy: I HAD KNOW.

>> AND 30, 40, 50 YEARS AGO, THE CLIMATE SCIENTISTS, Ph.D.s, THOUSANDS OF THEM WERE SAYING THE WETS WILL GET WETTER, THE DRIES WILL GET DRYER, AND -- >> Cathy: THE SWINGS, THOUGH.

>> THE WEATHER WHIPLASH AND THAT'S ONE OF MY QUESTIONS AND YOU BELIEVE -- I DON'T WANT TO PUPPET WORDS IN YOUR MOUTH, BUT ARE WE SEEK MORE WHIPLASH BACK AND FORTH?

>> I THINK WE'RE SEEING A HIGHER FREQUENCY.

GOODNESS KNOWS THERE'S HISTORICAL EVIDENCE FOR SUCH THING, 1910 TO 1911, 1976 TO 1977, BUT NOW THEY'RE COMPRESSED INTO SHORTER PERIODS OF TIME.

WE CAN HAVE A WIDE SWING FROM MONTH TO MONTHS, YEAR TO YEAR, AND IT'S HAPPENING WITH GREATER FREQUENCY.

AND I THINK THAT'S A SIGNAL F CLIMATE CHANGE IN OUR REGION.

WE'VE TALKED ABOUT THAT FOR QUITE A BIT OF TIME AND THERE'S AMPLE SCIENTIFIC LITERATURE OUT THERE THAT ALSO SUGGESTS THAT FOR THE MID-LATITUDES.

IT'S NOT EVERY PLACE BUT IT'S FOR THE ID-LATITUDES.

>> Eric: SMOKE?

>> YEAH.

>> AND THAT'S SOMETHING THAT I WASN'T PREPARED FOR BUT LAST YEAR WAS A BIG WAKE-UP CALL FOR ME AS A METEOROLOGIST THAT THESE SUDDEN DROUGHTS AND THE HEAT IN THE WEST DRIES UT THE VEGETATION, THE FOREST LAND AND LIGHTENING, WE'RE SEEING LIGHTENING NOW WAY UP NEAR THE ARTIC CIRCLE, MUCH FARTHER NORTH.

AS CANADA WARMS, THUNDERSTORMS ARE BUBBLING UP AND THESE STORMS PRODUCE THOUSANDS OF LIGHTNING STRIKES, WHICH IS TRIGGERING THESE FIRES, WHICH CAN LAST FOR MONTHS, AND CANADA DOESN'T PUT OUT THE FIRES.

THEY CAN'T.

THEY DON'T HAVE THE MANPOWER, THE MEANINGS, SO HESE FIRES BURN WEEK AFTER WEEK, MONTH AFTER MONTH.

IT'S GOING TO BE A SMOKEY REST OF THE SUMMER.

>> Eric: YOU GOT NOTHING ELSE TO DO, MAYBE YOU COULD EMCEE THE POLLEDCAST OF THESE TWO?

>> Cathy: WOULDN'T THAT BE FUN?

OH -- >> PLEASE.

>> Eric: I WANT MY 7%.

>> Cathy: THE WEATHER STYLINGS OF DOUGLAS AND SEALY, I LOVE THAT.

>> I WANT TO SAY PAUL HAS BEEN A WONDERFUL COLLEAGUE OVER THE YEARS, HE'S NO LONGER ON 'CCO FOR US BUT HE HAS BEEN A CHAMPION OF CLIMATE CHANGE AND I WANT TO SALUTE THAT FOR HIS CAREER BECAUSE HE'S JUST BEEN TERRIFIC TO WORK WITH VER THESE YEARS.

>> Cathy: AND TPT IS PAUL'S LONGEST -- >> MY LONGEST GIG.

>>