REGIONAL— December of 2023 proved to be one for the meteorological record books. The jaw-dropping Christmas to New Year’s warm spell capped a month that was already running much warmer than normal, quite literally blowing away previous records for the month.
In International Falls, for example, last month’s preliminary average monthly temperature of 27.6 degrees was a whopping 4.8 degrees above the previous warmest monthly record, set way back in 1913.
“We creamed it,” said state climatologist Pete Boulay, of the border city’s new warm temperature record, which came in 15.9 degrees above the monthly average. That preliminary reading could still be adjusted should the state climatology office receive a single missing low temperature reading from Dec. 16, but Boulay it would be unlikely to change the monthly average by more than a tenth of the degree.
While most other northern Minnesota weather stations lack the long period of record available at International Falls, stations throughout the region all finished far above their available averages. Weather stations at Kabetogama, Orr, Embarrass, and east of Ely, all reported average monthly temperatures at least 15 degrees above average. The Hibbing airport and Tower stations both topped their monthly averages by 14.6 degrees.
The state climatology office is still waiting on data from smaller weather stations as well to determine if last month topped the all-time warmest December ever recorded statewide. That record, set back way in 1877, was recorded when there were few weather stations in northern Minnesota, so direct comparisons for the North Country aren’t possible. But Boulay noted that weather records were kept at the Duluth harbor back in 1877 and he said this December was likely warmer than back then, at least at the harbor. That’s because other weather stations located at more northerly locations along the North Shore, such as at Two Harbors and Grand Marais, recorded a monthly average this past December close to the 1877 mark at Duluth, when the monthly mean temperature was 32.7 degrees. Two Harbors, for example, reported an average December 2023 temperature of 31.8 degrees, while Grand Marais averaged 31.7 degrees for the month.
Official Duluth weather records are now kept at the airport, away from the lake, and are significantly colder, on average, than temperatures at the harbor, at least during winter months. The Duluth airport averaged 30.1 degrees this past month, which was 12.9 degrees above average.
“We likely would have set a new record had the recording still been done downtown,” said Boulay.
Astonishing Christmas warmth
The warm, moist air that descended on the state just ahead of Christmas was unprecedented according to the state climatology office, with temperatures reaching the 40s in northern Minnesota and the 50s in the southern part of the state, setting daily high-temperature records for both daytime highs and overnight lows. The warm air held levels of moisture previously unknown in Minnesota in late December. “Dew point temperatures surged into the 40s through the Boundary Waters and as far northwest as Crookston, with values reaching or exceeding 50 degrees F throughout eastern and southern Minnesota,” according to the state climatology office. “For instance, the dew point of 45 degrees F recorded at International Falls at 2 p.m. on Dec. 24 is not only the highest on record for any date from early December into late February at that location, but also would have set a daily record at any of the much more humid southern Minnesota stations, including the Twin Cities and Rochester.”
The mild air and rain brought something else heretofore unknown to many northeastern Minnesota reporting stations— a brown Christmas. It was the first Christmas ever without at least one inch of snow on the ground in places like Tower, Babbit, Embarrass, Cook, Crane Lake, Virginia, Winton, and Isabella, according to records kept by the Department of Natural Resources.
This year’s record-setting December has also guaranteed records for the latest ice-in of major lakes in the state. As of Jan. 1, satellite images indicated large areas of open water remained on both Rainy and Namakan lakes and a number of deeper lake trout lakes in the BWCAW were reported to be open water as of the Jan. 1 trout opener, an unprecedented situation.