Storms start to move out of Minnesota, continue for western Wisconsin

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. Temperatures surged to nearly 50 degrees under a brisk but unseasonably mild westerly Sunday. The thermometer at MSP Airport topped out at a balmy 48 degrees Sunday; just 3 degrees shy of a record. 

Sunday was the warmest day in over 3 months.

 The last time it was this warm in the metro was on November 11th when we hit 52 degrees.

Hyperactive bank thermometer in Excelsior flashes 53 degrees Sunday.

 Photos by Paul Huttner. (Click to enlarge)

The warmth was not confined to southern Minnesota, as temperatures surged statewide. The sudden February thaw smashed several high temperature records in northern Minnesota Sunday. Check out some of the readings from 

"Thanks to a low pressure system centered in Canada, warm air was quickly ushered into the Northland today.

High temperatures today ranged from 45 to 50 degrees for many locations across Minnesota and Wisconsin. Relatively cooler readings, around 40, were found along the north shore of Lake Superior.  International Falls reported a high temperature of 46 degrees which breaks their old record set it 1983. The Duluth Airport had a high of 45 degrees, which was just 2 degrees shy of the record of 47 degrees for this date."    

Minnesota "Chinook" overwhelms snow cover:

with a foot of snow on the ground in much of Minnesota. The short answer is wind. Strong winds in the lowest mile of the atmosphere "mixed down" warmer air from several thousand feet aloft. This rapidly moving low level jet crossed the Rockies, then sank and compressed over Minnesota causing "compression warming." (Graphic courtesy Twin Cities NWS)

Since the air didn't have much time to remain in contact with and be "modified" by the snow cover on the ground, it stayed warm, and records fell. It is remarkable that the air parcels flying into Minnesota Sunday moved over 1,200 miles in just 24 hours!

MAX/MIN TEMPERATURE AND PRECIPITATION TABLE FOR

CENTRAL AND SOUTH CENTRAL MINNESOTA AND WEST CENTRAL WISCONSIN

NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TWIN CITIES/CHANHASSEN MN

VALUES REPRESENT LOWS OVER THE LAST 18 HOURS...

HIGHS OVER THE LAST 18 HOURS AND PRECIPITATION OVER THE

.BR MSP 0213 C DH18/TAIRZS/TAIRZI/PPDRZZ/SFDRZZ/SDIRZZ

: ASOS AIRPORTS - WEST CENTRAL/CENTRAL/SOUTHERN MN/WEST CENTRAL WI

: WITH PRECIPITATION/SNOWFALL/SNOW DEPTH REPORTS

:                               MAX    MIN              SNOW   SNOW

:ID          LOCATION           TEMP   TEMP     PCPN    FALL   DEPTH

EAU  : EAU CLAIRE WI          :  46 /  18 /       M /     M/     M

MSP  : MINNEAPOLIS MN         :  48 /  29 /     0.00/     0/    11

STC  : ST CLOUD MN            :  47 /  22 /     0.00/     0/    15

: ASOS AIRPORTS - WEST CENTRAL/CENTRAL/SOUTHERN MN

: WITHOUT PRECIPITATION/SNOWFALL/SNOW DEPTH REPORTS

AXN  : ALEXANDRIA MN          :  46 /  27 /

MIC  : CRYSTAL MN             :  47 /  23 /

FCM  : FLYING CLOUD MN        :  45 /  28 /

RWF  : REDWOOD FALLS MN       :  46 /  33 /

STP  : ST PAUL MN             :  47 /  19 /

...MAXIMUM WIND GUSTS FROM SUNDAY NIGHT INTO EARLY MONDAY

THE FOLLOWING IS A LIST OF MAXIMUM WIND GUSTS OBSERVED ACROSS

CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN MINNESOTA DURING SUNDAY FEBRUARY 13TH INTO

MONDAY FEBRUARY 14TH. A STRONG AREA OF LOW PRESSURE TRACKED EAST

OVER NORTHERN MINNESOTA ON SUNDAY...LEAVING A TIGHT PRESSURE

GRADIENT IN ITS WAKE ACROSS MINNESOTA ON SUNDAY NIGHT INTO THE

EARLY HOURS OF MONDAY. STRONG UNIDIRECTIONAL NORTHWEST WINDS

WITHIN THE LOWER ATMOSPHERE WERE FAVORABLE FOR WINDY CONDITIONS.

NOTE THAT THESE ARE THE MAXIMUM OF OBSERVED WIND DIRECTIONS FROM

AUTOMATED WEATHER OBSERVING STATIONS AND HIGHER MAGNITUDES MAY

LOCATION               PEAK GUST         TIME OF PEAK GUST

------------------------------------------------------------

CANBY                   54 MPH                   6 PM

MADISON                 51 MPH                   6 PM

ALEXANDRIA              49 MPH                  11 PM

NEW ULM                 48 MPH                   3 AM

FAIRMONT                47 MPH                   3 AM

ST JAMES                47 MPH                   9 PM

WASECA                  47 MPH                  11 PM

GLENWOOD                46 MPH                  11 PM

WILLMAR                 46 MPH                  12 AM

MORRIS                  45 MPH                  11 PM

OWATONNA                45 MPH                   1 AM

PAYNESVILLE             45 MPH                   9 PM

REDWOOD FALLS           45 MPH                  12 AM

APPLETON                44 MPH                  10 PM

MANKATO                 43 MPH                  11 PM

OLIVIA                  43 MPH                   3 AM

FARIBAULT               41 MPH                  11 PM

GRANITE FALLS           41 MPH                   1 AM

LONG PRAIRIE            41 MPH                  11 PM

ST CLOUD                41 MPH                  12 AM

GLENCOE                 40 MPH                  11 PM

HUTCHINSON              40 MPH                   9 PM

LAKEVILLE               40 MPH                   9 PM

ST PAUL                 40 MPH                  10 PM

BENSON                  39 MPH                   8 PM

CRYSTAL                 39 MPH                   9 PM

EDEN PRAIRIE            39 MPH                   9 PM

LITCHFIELD              39 MPH                   9 PM

LITTLE FALLS            39 MPH                   9 PM

MAPLE LAKE              39 MPH                   9 PM

MINNEAPOLIS             39 MPH                   9 PM

SAUK CENTRE             39 MPH                  12 AM

Paul Huttner

Author

Excelsior-bank-53-small-thumb-500x3751.jpg

Instant April: 50 degrees! Records fall, more 40s ahead.

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