ANOKA COUNTY, Minn. – You may find it hard to believe, but Wednesday marked the official start of Spring. Many of you remember the balmy 80 degree Saint Patrick’s Day of 2012. This year we closed out that day with yet another snowstorm. But before you hold a grudge against Punxsutawney Phil for predicting an early Spring, let’s take a look at some of Minnesota’s most surprising weather records.
- The city of Collegeville set the record for most snowfall in one month in March of 1965, when they got a whopping 65 inches.
- The earliest seasonal recorded snowfall occurred back in 1949 in Duluth on August 31st—to put things in perspective, that’s about the time you’d be enjoying some food on a stick at the State Fair.
- As for the latest seasonal recorded snowfall? That occurred on June 4th in 1935.
- So far this month the lowest temperature we’ve experienced was 1 degree above zero. However, in March of 1897 some Minnesotans experienced temperatures as low as negative 50 degrees Fahrenheit.
- While we were definitely feeling the heat in 2012, temperatures in the state were as high as 88 degrees in March of 1910.
- The earliest ice-out occurred on February 29 back in 2000 at Lake Pepin.
- In 1950 both Lake Vermillion and Leach Lake set the state record for latest ice-out date; that year the ice stuck around until May 23rd.
So while things could certainly look much better out there, they also could be much worse.
