March 25 marks the 112th consecutive day with at least an inch of snow on the ground in the Twin Cities, as measured at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport. You wouldn't be wrong if this feels like a particularly long stretch of snow cover. As of today this duration of snow cover would enter the books ranked 10th in longevity since 1900. The last winter to cobble together this many consecutive days was the winter of 2000-2001 with 119. In order to get into the top ten the Twin Cities would need to have at least an inch on the ground at the airport for four more days.
Looking back the longest stretch with snow cover of at least an inch occurred in the winter of 1964-1965 when 136 consecutive days were tallied. A series of snowstorms in March of 1965 delayed the onset of spring as the snowpack lasted into April. However, it is quite the tall order to make a run at the record. To break this record an inch of snow would have to remain on the ground through April 16.
Below is the list of 13 longest consecutive stretches of snow cover of at least an inch at the Twin Cities
1900-2014
Rank Start Date End Date Days --------------------------------------------- 1 11/26/1964 4/10/1965 136 2 11/22/1950 4/4/1951 134 3 11/17/1978 3/22/1979 126 4 11/22/1985 3/24/1986 123 5 11/20/1996 3/21/1997 122 6 12/7/2000 4/4/2001 119 7 11/23/1971 3/18/1972 117 8 11/28/1955 3/21/1956 115 9 11/25/1952 3/18/1953 114 10 12/4/2013 3/25/2014 112* 12/9/1961 3/30/1962 112 12 11/25/1942 3/13/1943 109 12/7/1969 3/25/1970 109 *As of March 25