A warm front separated mild air from unseasonably warm air across Minnesota on November 2-3. By the afternoon of November 3, the warm front had lifted to Northeast Minnesota. In a day that was more typical of Mid September, temperatures rose into the 70's across much of Minnesota on November 3. The low November sun angle cast an odd shadow on the balmy conditions. Records were tied or broken across the state. The Twin Cities at least tied the record high for November 3. The old record was 74 set back in 1978. The mercury climbed to 74 degrees by 3pm. The normal high for the Twin Cities on November 3 is 47. In addition, dew point temperatures were in the mid 50's during the afternoon of November 3 as well making it feel a little on the muggy side.
One area that did not have the warm temperatures was Duluth and along the north shore where winds off the lake kept clouds, fog and some light rain hugging the shore.
Below are Record Event Reports courtesy the National Weather Service.
RECORD EVENT REPORT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHANHASSEN MN 0444 PM CST MON NOV 03 2008 ...RECORD HIGH TEMPERATURE TIED TODAY AT TWIN CITIES MN... AT 4 PM...A TEMPERATURE OF 74 DEGREES WAS RECORDED AT THE MINNEAPOLIS ST PAUL INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT IN THE TWIN CITIES. THIS VALUE TIES THE OLD RECORD OF 74 SET IN 1978. AN UPDATED RECORD EVENT REPORT WILL BE ISSUED IF THE TEMPERATURE RISES AND BREAKS THE RECORD HIGH OVER THE NEXT FEW HOURS. RECORD EVENT REPORT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LA CROSSE WI 1252 AM CDT TUE NOV 04 2008 ...RECORD MAXIMUM TEMPERATURE SET AT ROCHESTER MINNESOTA YESTERDAY... AT 229 PM ON MONDAY NOVEMBER 3RD...THE HIGH TEMPERATURE AT ROCHESTER MINNESOTA INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT CLIMBED TO 75 DEGREES. THIS ESTABLISHED A NEW RECORD HIGH TEMPERATURE FOR THE DATE. THE PREVIOUS RECORD WAS 73 DEGREES SET BACK IN 1978. RECORD EVENT REPORT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE EASTERN NORTH DAKOTA/GRAND FORKS 500 PM CST MON NOV 03 2008 ...RECORD HIGH TEMPERATURE SET AT GRAND FORKS UNIV. (NWS) ND... ...RECORD HIGH TEMPERATURE SET AT GRAND FORKS INTL AIRPORT ND... A RECORD HIGH TEMPERATURE OF 65 DEGREES WAS SET AT GRAND FORKS UNIV. (NWS) ND THIS AFTERNOON. THIS BREAKS THE OLD RECORD OF 64 SET IN 1981. THE AIRPORT ALSO SHATTERED ITS PREVIOUS RECORD HIGH FOR THE DATE. AROUND MID AFTERNOON THE MERCURY TOUCHED 66 DEGREES...BREAKING THE PREVIOUS RECORD HIGH OF 63...SET IN 1981. RECORD EVENT REPORT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DULUTH MN 0512 PM CST MON NOV 03 2008 ...RECORD HIGH TEMPERATURE SET AT INTERNATIONAL FALLS MN... A RECORD HIGH TEMPERATURE OF 66 DEGREES WAS SET AT INTERNATIONAL FALLS MN TODAY. THIS TIES THE OLD RECORD OF 66 SET IN 1978. PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LA CROSSE WI 344 PM CDT MON NOV 3 2008 ...SEVENTH WARMEST NOVEMBER DAY IN ROCHESTER MINNESOTA... ON SUNDAY NOVEMBER 2ND...THE HIGH TEMPERATURE WAS 72 DEGREES AND THE LOW TEMPERATURE WAS 50 DEGREES. THIS PRODUCED A MEAN TEMPERATURE OF 61 DEGREES. THIS WAS 23 DEGREES ABOVE THE NORMAL OF 38 DEGREES. THIS TIED NOVEMBER 7 2001 FOR THE SEVENTH WARMEST NOVEMBER DAY /IN REGARD TO AVERAGE TEMPERATURE/. IT WAS THE WARMEST NOVEMBER DAY SINCE NOVEMBER 8 2006 WHEN THE AVERAGE TEMPERATURE WAS 61.5 DEGREES. THE WARMEST AVERAGE TEMPERATURE EVER RECORDED IN NOVEMBER WAS 65 DEGREES ON NOVEMBER 1 1933. THE TABLE BELOW SHOWS THE TEN WARMEST NOVEMBER DAYS IN RESPECT TO AVERAGE TEMPERATURE... ROCHESTER WARMEST NOVEMBER DAYS IN RESPECT TO AVERAGE TEMPERATURE AVERAGE RANK TEMPERATURE DATE ---- ----------- ---- 1 65.0 DEGREES NOVEMBER 1 1933 2 64.5 DEGREES NOVEMBER 2 1938 3 62.5 DEGREES NOVEMBER 1 1990 62.5 DEGREES NOVEMBER 3 1938 5 62.0 DEGREES NOVEMBER 1 2000 6 61.5 DEGREES NOVEMBER 8 2006 7 61.0 DEGREES NOVEMBER 2 2008 61.0 DEGREES NOVEMBER 7 2001 9 60.0 DEGREES NOVEMBER 3 1978 60.0 DEGREES NOVEMBER 18 1953 60.0 DEGREES NOVEMBER 1 1944 PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LA CROSSE WI 347 PM CDT SAT NOV 1 2008 ...NEAR OR RECORD WARMTH POSSIBLE THROUGH WEDNESDAY... SOUTHERLY WINDS AHEAD OF AN ANOMALOUSLY DEEP LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM LOCATED OVER THE NORTHERN PLAINS WILL BRING NEAR OR RECORD WARMTH TO MUCH OF THE UPPER MISSISSIPPI RIVER VALLEY THROUGH WEDNESDAY. BESIDES DAILY MAXIMUM TEMPERATURE RECORDS... MANY WARMEST MINIMUM TEMPERATURE RECORDS MAY BE EQUALED OR BROKEN. AS A REMINDER...THE WARMEST DAILY MINIMUM TEMPERATURE RECORDS ARE FOR THE DAY AND NOT NECESSARILY THE MORNING LOW TEMPERATURE. EVEN THOUGH THE MAXIMUM TEMPERATURES WILL BE UNUSUALLY WARM FOR THIS TIME OF YEAR...THEY WILL LIKELY BE NOWHERE NEAR THE STATE MAXIMUM TEMPERATURE RECORDS FOR NOVEMBER. THE TABLE BELOW PROVIDES THE STATE NOVEMBER MAXIMUM TEMPERATURE RECORD FOR IOWA...MINNESOTA...AND WISCONSIN... IOWA 86 NOV 17 1899 BURLINGTON MINNESOTA 84 NOV 1 1950 WINONA WISCONSIN 84 NOV 4 1904 PRAIRIE DU CHIEN 84 NOV 1 1904 PRAIRIE DU CHIEN THE TABLE BELOW CONTAINS THE MAXIMUM TEMPERATURE RECORDS FOR BOTH TUESDAY AND WEDNESDAY... TUESDAY WEDNESDAY NOV 4TH NOV 5TH ------- --------- AUSTIN MN 71 IN 1975 68 IN 2001 CHARLES CITY IA 68 IN 1978+ 71 IN 1945 DECORAH IA 70 IN 1895 73 IN 1895 LA CROSSE WI 68 IN 1895 71 IN 1924 MEDFORD WI 71 IN 1978 70 IN 1938+ OELWEIN IA 71 IN 1978 72 IN 1945+ PRAIRIE DU CHIEN WI 74 IN 1978 73 IN 1895 PRESTON MN 73 IN 1975 69 IN 1975 ROCHESTER MN 72 IN 1975 70 IN 1893 SPARTA WI 71 IN 1978 66 IN 1975 WINONA MN 76 IN 1964 74 IN 1975 + INDICATES THE LAST OCCURRENCE THE TABLE BELOW CONTAINS THE WARMEST MINIMUM TEMPERATURE RECORDS FOR BOTH TUESDAY AND WEDNESDAY... TUESDAY WEDNESDAY NOV 4TH NOV 5TH ------- --------- AUSTIN MN 48 IN 1940 49 IN 1948 CHARLES CITY IA 54 IN 1981 54 IN 1895 DECORAH IA 54 IN 1895 53 IN 1895 LA CROSSE WI 56 IN 1895 54 IN 1895 MEDFORD WI 51 IN 1956 51 IN 1956 OELWEIN IA 52 IN 1981 46 IN 1978 PRAIRIE DU CHIEN WI 57 IN 1902 55 IN 1956 PRESTON MN 49 IN 1964 52 IN 1956 ROCHESTER MN 47 IN 1981+ 46 IN 1948 SPARTA WI 54 IN 1938 55 IN 1956 WINONA MN 55 IN 1964 53 IN 1956