Latest First Below-Zero Minimum Temperature in the Twin Cities

No snow on the ground and no below zero yet: January 17, 2019
No snow on the ground and no below zero yet: January 17, 2019
Courtesy: MNDNR State Climatology Office

 

On January 19, 2019, the mercury finally dipped below zero in the Twin Cities (as measured at MSP airport), with a minimum temperature of -1 degrees F recorded just after sunrise. This was the latest into the winter the Twin Cities had gone without a below-zero reading, setting the record by one calendar day. The previous record had been a three-way tie between 2012, 2002, and 1889.

In 147 years of record-keeping in the Twin Cities, the official temperature has always fallen below zero at some point during the winter. In fact, there has never been a Twin Cities winter during which the temperature did not dip below zero at least twice. The 2018-19 joined that pack as well, with an additional subzero reading (-5 degrees F) on January 20th.

The long-term average date of the first below-zero reading in the Twin Cities is December 9. The earliest below-zero temperature recorded in the Twin Cities was November 4, 1991.

Latest First Subzero Reading of Winter
Twin Cities, 1872-2019
Rank Season   First Below Zero   Temp.(F)
-----------------------------------------
1)   2018-19  January 19          -1
2)   2011-12  January 18          -1
2)   2001-02  January 18          -2
2)   1888-89  January 18          -10
5)   1954-55  January 16          -1
6)   1881-82  January 14          -8
7)   2002-03  January 11          -1
7)   1974-75  January 11          -6
7)   1913-14  January 11          -6
10)  2015-16  January 9           -6
Last modified: January 21, 2019

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