Minnesota WeatherTalk

  A WISH FOR A HAPPY, SAFE, AND COMFORTABLE THANKSGIVING WEEKEND FOR MINNESOTA WEATHERTALK READERS (what follows is an abbreviated version of the blog for the holiday) Comments on the Month of November: It appears that this November will wrap up with colder than normal temperatures and a little snow during the last week of the month. This is unlikely to offset the warm and dry trends established during the first three weeks of the month. For the month today, average temperatures are running from 4°F to 7°F above normal and statewide average total precipitation is only between 3 tenths and 4 tenths of an inch. It is probable that this November will end up among the 25 warmest historically, as well as among the 25 driest historically. In fact, for some southern counties, it could end up among the driest 10 in history. I will report more detail in next week’s blog. Prairie and forest fires were common occurrences during the 19th Century in Minnesota. Soldiers at old Ft Snelling r...

Warmth with High Winds: Last week I wrote about and talked about November’s warm temperatures. It has indeed been a very warm November so far. Much of this week daily temperatures were ranging from 12 to 20 degrees above normal, though few records were set. On Thursday, November 16 some daily record high maximum temperatures were reported, including: 69°F at MSP 65°F at Theilman (Wabasha County) 57°F at Kabetogama (St Louis County) With these record-setting maximum temperatures on Thursday were strong winds from the south, as was the case with most of the warm days so far this month. At least 20 climate stations reported wind gusts of 40 mph or greater on November 16th, and we should remember that historically November is the 2nd windiest month on the Minnesota calendar, trailing only April. In fact here is a comparison for several Minnesota locations of the number of days with wind gusts of 30 mph or greater for November so far, with the total number of such days that occurred la...

November Climate Trends: Periodically I get asked by MPR listeners or Minnesota WeatherTalk Blog readers what some of the recent climate trends are for Minnesota. I thought I would take a moment to exam the trends for temperature and precipitation in the month of November of the most recent 25 years (since 1998). So here goes. For context the long-term November temperature trend in Minnesota (on a statewide basis) is plus 2.6°F over the past century. The months of February (+4.4°F), January (+4.1°F, March (+4.0°F, and December (+3.3°F) show an even more positive temperature trend over the past century. But if we break down the most recent 25 years of climate data, November has been warmer than normal in 17 years including 9 consecutive years from 2004 to 2009, normal in 4 years, and cooler than normal in only 4 years. That is a very strong warming trend,statiscally speaking. The warmest November in state history was in 2001 which was nearly 13°F above normal on a statewide basis....

November Starts Cold, Following a Wet October: November started colder than normal following the snow of late October. Many places reported temperatures from 10 to 12 degrees F colder than normal over the first two days of the month. The first subzero temperature of the autumn season was reported at Brimson (St Louis County) on the morning of November 1st. A few places in both northeastern and southeastern Minnesota reported snow as well, including 2 inches at Hokah (Houston County) and Mabel (Fillmore County), and a half inch at Kabetogama (St Louis County). Although about half the days of October were colder than normal and half warmer than normal, average monthly temperatures were generally 2 to 6 degrees warmer than normal across the state, mostly thanks to record warm start to the month. At least 74 communities reported one day or more of 90° F or higher. Within the state climate station network, 149 daily high maximum temperature records were set, and 180 daily high minimu...