Travels & adventures of the Hickory Hiker: January 2015

Minnesota Meteorology 2014 - f rom my backyard meteorology station in the S.E. Twin Cities

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R E C O R D S & E X T R E M E S

March 2: Record Low High, 3°

March 3: Record Low -13°

July 14: Record Low High, 65°

September 5: Tie Record Low High, 55°

December 14: Record Warm Low, 42°

December 15: Record High, 49°

Dec. 15: Warmest dew point so late in Dec

First Robin: March 8

First Thunder: May 8

Ice Out: April 13

Ice Over: November 18

First Freeze: October 11

Last Freeze: April 18

Growing Season: 174 days

First Snow: November 10

First 1” Snow: November 10

Last Snow: April 29, .2”

Perm Snow Cover: Nov 10, Dec 26

Perm Snow cover out: Dec 13, April 6

Snow Cover Days: 134 days

First Below 0°: November 27

Last Below 0°: March 3

Bee Line (first 60°): April 6

First 80°: May 23

Last 80°: September 28

90° days: 1

100° days: 0

Below 0° days: 49

8^th Snowiest & 17^th coldest January

4^th Coldest February

9^th Coldest Winter

2^nd Wettest April

1^st Wettest June

9^th Coldest November

6^th most below zero days

Top 5 Weather Events @ Corey Path

1. Near 13” of rain in June and 28” April thru June

2. 1 90° day & 49 below zero° days (6^th most ever)

3. 66 hours below zero January 4^th to 7^th and 26^th to 29^th

4. 12 consecutive days below freezing Nov 10 to 21 (2^nd all time)
5. 3 days with rain, ice pellets, sleet, and snow

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WEATHER OF 2014

The weather in 2014 was rainy, snowy, cloudy & cold. It was the 9^th coldest winter and the coldest year since 1996. There were 49 below zero days (6^th most ever) and only 1 90° day. The 63” of snow was a bit above the 55” average. The cool wet spring didn’t break until May. The story of the year was the extreme rainfall; over 44” for the year, nearing a state record. It is very rare for this area to see anything near 40”, average is 32”. In June alone almost 13” of rain got dumped. This closes in on the state extreme record of over 15” in Granite Falls. Expect more extremes in ’15, the likes we’ve never seen.

WINTER: It was a long tough cold & snowy Winter that wouldn’t go away. DECEMBER ’13 Winter slammed in with 19” of snow and 16 below zero temps and an average temp of only 11 ½°; a warning shot of the winter to follow. JANUARY was the 8^th snowiest and 17^th coldest. It was brutally cold with an average low temp of -4.6°. There were 21 below zero days with a winter low of -24 on the 6^th. This included 2 stretches of 66 hours below zero. FEBRUARY It was the 4^th coldest February with 19 below zero temps and an average low of -1.8°.

SPRING: Spring was but a rumor. It was cold & cloudy until May with March & April being 7° below normal. Then the rains kicked in. MARCH was dry & cold, 8° below normal. There was a record low high of 3° on the 2^nd and a record low -13° the next night. This was the last below 0° of the winter. APRIL was cold, cloudy & wet. The continuous snow cover finally baked off on the 6^th; late ice outs in the offing. With nearly 7” of rain, it was the 2^nd wettest April. MAY Spring finally broke out with normal temps. May matched April’s 6.95” of rain.

SUMMER: was a mono climate temperature wise. The mean temps were all about 70°. The heavy rains dried up for 5 weeks in mid July; lately a typical dry stretch since Global Warming. JUNE was an epic month of rainfall, nuzzling the State Record with nearly 13”. At this juncture we had already received our normal annual rainfall of 32”. JULY lacked Julyness, no extreme heat (only 1 90°) or oppressive dew points (76° dew point the 21^st as a reminder). The 65° high the 14^th was a record. AUGUST is our apex summer month and it was money; sun & warmth with rains kicking back in after mid month.

AUTUMN: September & October were dry and pleasant and unremarkable in any way until the cold & snow took command in November. SEPTEMBER was warm, dry & sunny. Sept is the quiet hidden gem of a month in Minnesota. OCTOBER continued the normality & dryness & pleasantness NOVEMBER Early first snows on Pikes Pk & Longs Pk was a harbinger of an early onset to winter. On Nov 10 Thor came in hard & heavy and slammed the door to Autumn shut. Nov was one of the cloudiest months in the past 35 years and cold. The average high was only 32°; 9° below average. The 10^th thru the 21^st were all below freezing – 2^nd all time consecutive streak for Nov. It was the 9^th coldest November. Lakes iced over very early.

Early WINTER ’14 – ‘15: The prospect of a long ugly winter was broken in Dec by a moderate El Nino. DECEMBER the winter of 2014-15 came in early and hard but snow cover melted off the 13^th. It was dry with only 4” of snow. It was also very cloudy with 20 consecutive cloudy days – the consequence of warm Pacific zonal air flowing over the relatively cold surface air causing moisture condensation i.e. clouds. 42° set a record as a warm low on the 14^th followed by a record high 49°. The 49° dew point that day was the warmest dew point so late in the year.

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METEOROLOGY:

INVER GROVE HEIGHTS 2014

LONG: W 93° 1’ 35” LAT: N 44° 49 ’ 6”

ELEVATION: 900’