Near record cold Twins opener; Sunday snow, but 50 next week?

Play ball?

Thursday looks like it will challenge for the coldest home opener in Minnesota Twins history.

I think the game time temperature will be about 36 degrees.

The coldest Twins home opener? April 14, 1962. The first pitch sailed to home plate through a frigid 34 degree air mass.

Here's a good summary of the weather on Twin's home openers from the Minnesota DNR Climate Working Group.

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April 5, 2018 will be the outdoor home opener for this Minnesota Twins season.

April in Minnesota is a transitional month. The weather can fluctuate wildly from some fairly hot days to some very chilly readings and even some snowfall. The Minnesota Twins returned to outdoor baseball in 2010. The Twins also played outdoor baseball from 1961 to 1981 at Metropolitan Stadium in Bloomington and then moved to the Metrodome from 1982 to 2009. For the 21 home openers played at Metropolitan Stadium and the eight home openers played so far at Target Field, there's been a variety of weather conditions. The coldest home opener was April 14, 1962 with a high of 34 degrees and a low of 20 that day reported at the Twin Cities International Airport. Winds were quite brisk and gusting to 21mph out of the NW in the afternoon. The Minnesota Twins lost to the California Angels that day 5-12. The warmest opener was April 22, 1980 with a high temperature of 90 degrees. The Twins played the California Angels on this opener too, this time the Twins won 8-1. The average high temperature for the day on the dates for the home openers over the 29 years is 58 degrees.

There's been a trace of snow reported at the International Airport on only one day that the Twins had an outdoor opener. This was on April 23, 1972- ironically the latest outdoor home opener. The afternoon had temperatures in the low 40's with rain showers and a few ice pellets mixed in.

February in April

Temperatures over the next few days feel more like February. Slow moderation begins early next week.

Sunday snow likely

We dance  with winter once again Sunday. The next significant low pressure wave pushes snow in Sunday. NOAA's GFS is typical of most model solutions Sunday into Monday morning.

Another swath of 4"+ across southern Minnesota is looking more likely by Monday morning.

I know.

50 next week?

I'm really not saying this to try give us all hope. Though I'm not above that as a concept. The American, Canadian and European model all continue push milder air into Minnesota late next week. The stubborn Hudson Bay low gradually lifts north toward the North Pole. The should allow a milder Pacific flow late next week.

Both NOAA's GFS and the European model still insist on 50 degrees late next week.

Stay tuned.