Minnesota WeatherTalk

 Preliminary Climate Summary for April: April of 2018 will be remembered as cold and snowy for most Minnesota citizens. The average temperature for most communities ranged from 9 to 12 degrees F colder than normal. On a statewide basis it was the 5th coldest April back to 1895, only 1950, 1907, 1909, and 1920 were colder. For the Twin Cities (MSP) it was the 4th coldest April back to 1873, only 1874, 1907, and 1950 were colder. Within the Minnesota climate network over 500 daily record cold minimum temperature or cold maximum temperature records were set or tied. Extreme temperatures for the month ranged from -11 degrees F at Ely on the 8th, to over 80 degrees F at several locations on April 30th (forecasted to be that high). Roughly 85 percent of all days in April brought cooler than normal temperature conditions. Moisture-wise the southern counties were generally wetter than normal, while the north was drier than normal. Many southern communities reported 3 to 4 inches...

Record Snowfall Totals for April: The heavy snowfalls and blizzard of April 13-16 set many records around the state. Many observers reported 12 to 18 inches of snowfall in total, while Milan, Lake Wilson, Tracy, Canby, and Madison reported over 19 inches. During the height of the snow, MSP Airport was closed and MN/DOT reported over 600 vehicle accidents. Many new record daily snowfall amounts were reported for April 14th, among dozens were 7 inches at Amboy, 8 inches at Ortonville, 14 inches a Milan, and 23 inches at Canby (a new statewide record for the date). Then on April 15th even more new daily record snowfall amounts were reported, among them 12 inches at Winnebago and Rosemount, 12.7 inches at Duluth, 14 inches at Dawson and Montevideo, 16 inches at Minneota, and 25 inches at Tracy (a new statewide record for the date). So two new statewide daily snowfall records were set by this storm, 23 inches at Canby on the 14th and 25 inches at Tracy on the 15th, remarkable! Overa...

April Cold and Snow Revisited: The first 12 days of April have been historically cold in Minnesota with average temperatures ranging from 14 to 16 degrees F colder than normal. Some individual days have been 20 to 30 degrees F colder than normal. Within the state climate network over 120 new daily record cold low temperature values have been tied or set, while over 130 cold daily record maximum temperature values have been tied or set as well. Over 50 climate stations have reported subzero temperature readings on at least one morning this month. Crane Lake reported the coldest temperature in the nation on the 4th with a reading of -8°F, while Embarrass reported the nation’s coldest temperature on the 10th with a reading of 0°F. For Twin Cities’ residents the first 12 days of April have been the coldest in history back to 1872. Here are the top five coldest first 12 days of April in the Twin Cities climate records: 2018 average temperature 27.5°F 1920 average temperature 28.2°F ...

Cold Start to April With Some Record Snows: Through the first six days of the month temperatures are averaging 15 to 20 degrees F colder than normal around the state. At least 17 climate stations have reported subzero overnight temperatures so far this month, including -8 degrees F at Warren (Marshall County). Most other climate stations have been reporting high temperatures in the 20s and 30s with lows in the single digits and teen values. Some new daily minimum temperature records have been set around the state so far. A sample listing includes: 3°F at Floodwood on April 1 19°F at Minnesota City on April 2 13°F at Hastings on April 3 -3°F at Park Rapids on April 4 0°F at Morris on April 4 2°F at Pipestone and Marshall on April 4 3°F at Milan and Madison on April 4 5°F at Austin and Albert Lea on April 4 -6°F at Embarrass and Long Prairie on April 5 -5°F at Kabetogama on April 5 -3°F at Redwood Falls on April 5 1°F at Browns Valley on April 5 3°F at Montevideo on April 5 Many oth...