Wet wrap up of March and beginning of April Back-to-back low pressure weather systems brought a very wet weekend to conclude the month of March across Minnesota. Many climate stations reported between 1.50 inches and 2.50 inches of precipitation over the weekend. A few places in south-central Minnesota reported over 3 inches. At least 30 new daily precipitation records were reported within the Minnesota climate station network, including a remarkable 3.17 inches at Owatonna (Steele County) on March 30th. The added precipitation over the weekend pushed the monthly total for March to above normal values at most climate stations across the state. Some areas of the state reported thunderstorms, sleet, snow, and even freezing rain from the storms over last weekend. Along the north shore of Lake Superior freezing rain caused ice to form on power lines and bare trees. More on the impact of the weekend storms can be found in a summary from the Minnesota State Climatology Office on their...
Preliminary Climate Summary for March: The story of temperature this month in Minnesota is the great range and disparity between northern Minnesota and southern Minnesota. Average monthly temperatures ranged from just 2°F above normal in some northern communities to 7°F in many southern Minnesota communities. Temperatures ranged from -20°F at Seagull Like (Cook County) on the 2nd to 87°F at Sherburn (Martin County) on the 28th. 28th. In fact, that was a new statewide high temperature record on March 28th, to go along with the new statewide high temperatures set earlier this month on the 10th (77°F at Granite Falls) and the 14th (79°F at Winona). Within the statewide long-term climate station network, over 150 new daily high maximum temperature records were set during the month, with several locations reporting highs of 70°F or greater. In addition, over 40 climate stations reported at least one new record warm overnight minimum temperature record being set. Among those long-term ...