Midwest Expects October Heat

October is feeling suspiciously like July across the Midwest, where an unseasonable heat wave is on track to shatter temperature records. Much of the northern Plains and Upper Midwest could see highs climb 20 to 30 degrees above normal this weekend, with Minneapolis looking at highs near 90°F—a mark hit only three times in local record books dating to 1872, NBC News reports. The National Weather Service says dozens of daily records might fall across a swath stretching from South Dakota to Illinois, with Bismarck, Rapid City, Madison, and Moline among the cities in the heat's crosshairs.

Temperatures are expected to linger in the low to mid-90s in some spots—weather more fitting for mid-summer than the pumpkin spice season. Meteorologists point to a persistent ridge of high pressure as the culprit, trapping warm air over the region and refusing to budge. "Despite the calendar saying it's October, it sure will be feeling much more summer-like than fall-like the next few days," the agency noted in its latest outlook. While Midwesterners may enjoy an extended ice cream season, climate scientists warn that extreme heat events like this are becoming more frequent and intense due to climate change—meaning these out-of-place heat waves might soon become less of a novelty and more of a new normal.