43 degrees below zero! Cotton, Minnesota is coldest spot in U.S.
Why is 40-below is good for Minnesota forests?
The thermometer blinked negative 43 in Cotton, Minnesota Monday morning.
That’s the coldest temperature recorded in the 48 contiguous U.S. states Monday morning. Many locations in northern Minnesota dipped to 30 degrees below zero. Two other northern Two other locations hit negative 40 early Monday.
Cotton: minus 43
Tower: minus 41
Kabetogema: minus 41
The Twin Cities dipped to negative 16 Sunday morning, and negative 10 Monday morning. That makes five nights at or below zero so far this winter season. The annual average is 23.
40 below is good for the trees
I’ve written before about why temperatures of negative 20 to negative 40 are good for the forests in Minnesota. Insect mortality for invasive species like the pine bark beetle is very high (over 90 percent) at minus 40 and colder.
Create a More Connected Minnesota
MPR News is your trusted resource for the news you need. With your support, MPR News brings accessible, courageous journalism and authentic conversation to everyone - free of paywalls and barriers. Your gift makes a difference.
And temperatures of minus 20 can kill about 70 percent of Emerald Ash Borer larvae.
So our legendary Minnesota cold is actually a benefit to keeping our beautiful forests healthy.
Expect subzero nights all week long across Minnesota. The coldest morning will likely be Saturday morning.
Just like last weekend, the forecast temperatures on the map above for Saturday are probably too conservative. Temperatures may hit -35 to -40 again by Saturday across northern Minnesota.
The trees hope so.