Minnesota WeatherTalk

More Severe Weather and Red Flag Warnings: More severe weather and Red Flag Warnings dominated the Minnesota weather headlines since last Friday. Friday, April 17th brought multiple tornadoes and several reports of large hail to southeastern Minnesota counties. Most of the tornadoes were rated EF-0 (65-85 mph winds) or EF-1 (86-110 mph winds), though two tornadoes, both near the Rochester area, were rated EF-2 (111-135 mph winds). These EF-2 tornadoes caused damage to homes and some farm buildings. There were also lots of reports of hail from 1 inch to 2 inches in diameter over the southeastern counties. The Minnesota State Climatology Office web site provides a summary description of the tornadoes and damage from these storms. The La Crosse, WI National Weather Service web site offers a good online graphical summary of these storms as well. For Monday through Wednesday of this week much of the state saw Red Flag Warnings each day from the National Weather Service. These warnin...

Rollercoaster Temperature Pattern in April: For the first 11 days of April, the average temperatures around the state were generally 4 to 8 degrees F cooler than normal, with many agricultural areas of the state reporting multiple frosts, even some single digit morning low temperatures. But since April 11th, temperatures have averaged 4 to 14 degrees F warmer than normal, with some areas reporting afternoon high temperatures in the 80s F on both the 12th and the 16th. Many climate observers have reported measurable rain on 9 or 10 days this month, as well as wind gusts of 30 mph or greater on 10 or 11 days. April 13th brought severe weather to portions of southern Minnesota, with tornado reports from Blue Earth, Faribault, and Freeborn Counties. Fortunately, little damage was reported. In addition, 17 southern Minnesota counties reported large hail, ranging in diameter from 1 inch to 3.5 inches. There were reports of car damage and even some damage to buildings due to the hail. It is a...

Cool, wet, windy start to April: Through the first nine days of the month, most climate stations are reporting an average monthly temperature that is 4°F to 8°F cooler than normal. Sor far temperature extremes for the month have ranged from 69°F at Wells (Faribault County) on the 8th to -6°F at Mahnomen (Mahnomen County) on the 6th. Temperatures are expected to be near normal or a bit warmer than normal for the balance of the month. Precipitation so far this month has been above normal in most areas of the state, especially southern and eastern counties. Some areas of southeastern Minnesota have reported over 3 inches, but many other areas have reported between 1 inch and 2.50 inches of precipitation so far. Over April 3-4, a few areas of the state reported record daily precipitation amounts. Some of these included: 1.36 inches at Austin, 1.24 inches at Rochester, and 1.03 inches at Caledonia. This wetter-than-normal weather pattern has dropped the area of the Minnesota landscap...

Recent trends in April snowfall: Since April of 2000 most years have brought at least a trace of snowfall to the Twin Cities during the first week of April (April 1-7). The list below shows the percentage of April 1-7 that delivered some type of snow to the Twin Cities over the past 26 years (2000-2025) 87% brought at least a trace of snow 42% brought a measurable amount of snowfall (0.1 inches or greater) 31% brought a snowfall of at least 1.0 inches or greater With snow I the forecast for Friday night and Saturday, the Twin Cities will report snow during the first week of April for 5 consecutive years (2022-2026) Since April is a huge transition month weather wise, these percentages are interesting to compare to the last week of April (April 24-30). The list below shows the percentage of April 24-30 that delivered some type of snow to the Twin Cities over the past 26 years (2000-2025) 38% brought at least a trace of snow 8% brought a measurable amount of snowfall (0.1 inches or great...