By Raya Zimmerman

Pioneer Press

MINNEAPOLIS — Just in time for pre-All Star Game festivities, Monday’s temperatures in the Twin Cities could break a 130-year-old record for the lowest high temp.

Seems Minnesota will stop at nothing to set a record for cold weather, even in July.

The high Tuesday, the day of the big game at Target Field in Minneapolis, should be back to room temperature, but bring a jacket that evening.

Monday’s forecast high of 65 degrees would be 3 degrees lower than the record set on July 14, 1884.

After the ninth coldest winter on record, the “summer polar vortex” is en route, said Mike Griesinger, a forecaster at the National Weather Service in Chanhassen. A semipermanent area of cold, deep low pressure continuously wobbles around the North Pole. This week, the Twin Cities will experience a small chunk that is breaking off, he said.

“The only thing we’ll be missing (Monday) is the blowing snow,” Griesinger joked. “It’s pretty rare to see a system like this in the summertime.”

He said the colder-than-average temps are a continuation from the winter — a pattern the Midwest hasn’t yet been able to shake.

Parts of northern Canada were in the midst of the vortex Sunday, he said.

Though the cold summer weather pattern is rare, it was only five years ago — in summer 2009 — when high temperatures averaged in the 60s throughout July.

Monday’s cool weather also will bring clouds and scattered showers with winds up to 15 mph.

Skies will clear for Tuesday’s All-Star Game at Target Field, with highs near 71. Game time should be about 68, according to the National Weather Service.

The rest of the week will be mostly sunny with highs in the mid-70s, reaching near 80 by Friday.

—Distributed by MCT Information Services