Wintry mix spreads across Minnesota

MPR News helps you turn down the noise and build shared understanding. Turn up your support for this public resource and keep trusted journalism accessible to all. 

Turn Up Your Support

The vernal equinox at 2:20 p.m. Wednesday marks the start of astronomical autumn. 

Here are a few interesting tidbits about our autumnal equinox in Minnesota.

2021 was the warmest meteorological summer on record for many Minnesota locations including the Twin Cities, Brainerd and Duluth. We nearly set the statewide warmest summer on record. 

It’s also interesting to note the wide geographical differences in summer rainfall across Minnesota’s climate divisions. 

September is running 2 degrees warmer than average in the Twin Cities as we approach the last week of this month. This marks the 7th straight month of warmer than average temperatures in the Twin Cities and much of Minnesota. Here’s are the numbers for the Twin Cities compared to the average since March.

Overall our temperatures have been about 3 degrees warmer than average in the Twin Cities since March 1. That’s closer to the average climate for Des Moines, Iowa.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s monthly climate outlook for October favors warmer than average temperatures overall across the Midwest. 

It also slightly favors wetter than average conditions across most of Minnesota.

Weather and Climate News

Updraft® - Minnesota Weather News

Paul Huttner

Author

The past seven months have all been warmer than average in the Twin Cities and most of Minnesota.

NOAA Climate Prediction Center 

Huttner, Paul

Trenda, Ron

Minnesota summer temperature and precipitation rankings

Happy Autumn: Summer was warmest on record for Twin Cities

Go Deeper.

Like this?

News you can use in your inbox