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Serving Northern St. Louis County, Minnesota

More winter warmth leaves region in spring mode

Records fall as temps approach 60 in the area

Posted 2/22/17

REGIONAL— Last month featured the longest January thaw on record. But February is poised to outpace even last month’s mild weather, thanks to yet another historically warm stretch that set a slew …

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More winter warmth leaves region in spring mode

Records fall as temps approach 60 in the area

Posted

REGIONAL— Last month featured the longest January thaw on record. But February is poised to outpace even last month’s mild weather, thanks to yet another historically warm stretch that set a slew of daily and even monthly records at reporting stations across the state. Perhaps most remarkably, the weather station in Marshall, in southwestern Minnesota, recorded an overnight low of 52 degrees on Feb. 20. It was the warmest overnight low ever recorded in Minnesota in February.

“That’s a very substantial record,” said state climatologist Kenny Blumenfeld.

Duluth tied its own record for overnight warmth on the same date. When the temperature dipped to 37 degrees on Monday, it tied a record warm minimum set way back in 1895.

Up on the border, International Falls tied its all-time warmest February temperature on Feb. 17, when the mercury soared to 58 degrees, tying a record set in 2000.

It topped its daily high temperature record of 49 degrees the following day, when the thermometer hit 51 degrees.

The incredible warmth, which lasted for days, was capped with nearly an inch of rain on Monday, which further depleted what had been a healthy snowpack the week before. The unseasonable melt left snowmobile trails wrecked and forced the cancellation of the Wolftrack Classic sled dog race, which had been set for this Sunday.

While February began on a seasonably cool note, the mid-month warmup has pushed the monthly temperature averages well into the top tier historically. “February will go down as one of the ten warmest, if not among the fifth warmest,” said Blumenfeld. “This means for most parts of the state, 16 of the last 18 months have been above average for temperature. This is definitely part of a longer trend of extended warmth.”

While far northern Minnesota has managed to hang on to a diminished snowpack, much of the rest of the state lost its snowcover, in some cases weeks ago, leaving many wondering what ever happened to winter this year. According to Blumenfeld, many lakes in southern and parts of central Minnesota aren’t even fully iced over yet, and probably won’t achieve full ice cover this year. He said the maple sap runs began in mid-February in parts of southern Minnesota, a month earlier than average and a full week ahead of previous records.

And there’s little sign of cold weather. While temperatures over the weekend are expected to dip back to seasonal norms for a few days, temperatures are forecast to rebound back into the 30s by midweek, with the possibility of some snow.

The biggest factor behind the mild weather, according to Blumenfeld, is the lack of cold in the high Arctic. “As warm as it’s been in Minnesota, the warming in parts of northern Canada and the Arctic has been even more dramatic,” said Blumenfeld. “That’s our normal reservoir of cold air.”