Minnesota WeatherTalk

Preliminary Climate Summary for January 2023: With just four days left in the month, I can still offer a perspective on the climate summary for January. Despite the colder than normal temperatures expected for the last few days of the month, most climate stations in Minnesota will report an average monthly temperature that is 3 to 7°F warmer than normal. Over two-thirds of the days in the month brought warmer than normal temperatures, with the warmest coming over the first two days of the month. Preston (Fillmore County) reported a 45°F high temperatures on the 1st. Seagull Lake (Cook County) reported a minimum temperature of -23°F on January 6th which is the coldest temperature for the month so far, but there may be colder readings in northern Minnesota over the last few days of the month. Minnesota reported the coldest temperature in the nation twice during the month. Most climate observers reported a wetter than normal January, with the exception of climate stations in the nor...

Perspectives Snow and Winterkill of Alfalfa: The weather since December 1st has been up and down with respect to temperature. Most places in Minnesota reported a colder than normal month of December, with abundant snowfall, well above normal in many areas. January so far has tracked warmer than normal and maintained the trend this winter for above normal snowfall. Snow cover across the landscape has been consistently above 6 inches in many areas of the state since the third week of December. One exception to this snow cover description is southeastern Minnesota, where recent warm temperatures and unusual January rainfall have eroded the snow cover to less than 2 inches in many counties. However, the winter storm on Thursday of this week deposited a fresh coating of 4 to 6 inches of snowfall there. Snow cover is an asset for an alfalfa crop in winter as it serves as a blanket to insulate the crop from wide swings in temperature and helps prevent extremely low soil temperatures that...

Moderating Temperatures, Fog, Haze, Freezing Rain, and Poor Air Quality Temperatures moderated either side of normal this week, with some subzero mornings in northern Minnesota. But there were many daytime high temperatures that were warmer than normal. Much of the moderation in temperature was due to stagnant high pressure across the region, but also fog and haze. In addition, air quality was poor due to inversions keeping the mixing depth of the atmosphere closer to the surface, and therefore building up particulate levels. The poor air quality was the worst since 2005 according to the MPCA. Small amouts of freezing drizzle and freezing rain were measured on Tuesday and Wednesday. Amounts were generally less than a tenth of an inch, but the build up of ice made conditions dangerous for pedestrians and motor vehicles, especially on Wednesday morning. Hundreds of accidents were reported. Climate studies of Minnesota show that across much of the state freezing rain or freezing dr...

Warm, Wet Start to January: Through the first 5 days of January average temperatures around the state are running 8 to 12 degrees F above normal. Many Minnesota climate stations reported daily high temperatures this week in the 30s F, and in the southeast portion of the state Minnesota City (Winona County) and Preston (Fillmore County) reported highs of 44°F and 45°F, respectively. Coupled with the warm temperatures were very high dew points for this time of year, stretching into the upper 20s to low 30s F, indicating a great deal of water vapor. Late Monday (January 2nd) to late Thursday (January 5th another slow-moving weather system brought abundant precipitation and snowfall to many areas of Minnesota. Total amounts of precipitation ranged from 0.50 inches to 1.50 inches at many climate stations, while many snowfall totals ranged from 5 inches to 15 inches. In some cases new daily precipitation or snowfall records were established at some of Minnesota’s oldest climate stations...