MPR News PM Update
June 10, 2021

Temperatures will only drop down to just 78 degrees overnight. But the Twin Cities will get a little break tomorrow, with a chance of scattered thunderstorms in the afternoon that will cool things into the mid-80s in the late afternoon. That slightly cooler weather is expected to continue into Saturday. Find the latest on Updraft.

An attorney for a woman who says she was in Winston Smith's vehicle when he was killed says she did not see a gun on him.

The woman was not identified at Thursday's news conference. The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension has said investigators found a gun and spent cartridges and evidence the gun was fired inside the vehicle. There is no known video of what happened.

Meanwhile, the family of Winston Smith says the funeral for the 32-year-old is Saturday at Shiloh Temple in north Minneapolis.

For an eighth straight day, the Twin Cities topped out above 90 degrees.

A lot of Minnesota continues to be under a heat advisory today. Some parts of the state are under an excessive heat warning.

MPR News meteorologist Nicole Mitchell says much of the state has not gotten a break from the heat even after the sun goes down.

"The combination of the warm day, the warm overnight and today will be a hotter day again with more upper 90s and we've gotten more humid. So you put all those things together and we're going to see heat indices today that top 100 at times."

Mitchell adds humidity has alleviated concern for fire danger, though it’s still very dry.

A chance of rain Friday and a drop in dew points will make the weekend more comfortable.

In COVID-19 news, Minnesota reported seven additional COVID-19 deaths today, and 175 newly reported cases. 

The seven-day rolling average of new cases is ebbing down near 200 per day, and reaching the lowest point since April of 2020. 

According to state data, 90 percent of those 65 and older now have at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine.

The state’s positivity rate is down to a record low of 1.35 percent. 

ICU admissions are at their lowest levels since the first few weeks of the outbreak last March.

Vaccination rates seem to be holding steady at around 6,000 first doses per day.

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