Two frigid weeks, otherwise 2021 has been unseasonably mild

Feb. 5-20: That’s the two-week period many of us will remember from an otherwise relatively balmy Minnesota winter. Take a look at these stats.

• December was 5.6 degrees above average in the Twin Cities

• 23 of 31 days in December were warmer than average.

• January was 6.5 degrees warmer than average in the Twin Cities.

• 25 of 31 days in January were warmer than average.

• The first week of March is likely to run about 10 degrees warmer than average overall.

November was also about 5 degrees warmer than average in the Twin Cities. So Minnesota has actually been in a dominantly mild weather pattern since October.

Except for those two brutally cold weeks in February.

It’s interesting to note that our 2020/21 winter weather pattern pattern does not fit with the statistical outcome for La Niña winter in Minnesota, which favors colder than average temperatures.

Our balmy forecast continues next week. Highs in the 60s look very likely.

It may be overdone, but the European model cranks out a high of 68 for the Twin Cities next Tuesday.