Minnesota Climate Extremes

The Minnesota State Climatology Office is part of a Statewide Climate Extremes Committee that tracks Minnesota's all-time weather extremes, in cooperation with the six National Weather Service Forecast Offices that serve the state, as well as with the Midwest Regional Climate Center. Five of the records tracked--all-time maximum and minimum temperature, maximum 24-hour precipitation, maximum monthly snowfall, and maximum snow depth (all shown in italics in the table below)--are required to be tracked in every state.

So what does it take to set a statewide climate record? For the five required elements, and all temperature, precipitation, and snowfall records, the Committee only recognizes National Weather Service-operated weather stations, either from the vast network of volunteer Cooperative observers, or the high-quality automated stations found at select airports and National Weather Service offices. The Committee does not consider values from automated stations operated by state agencies (including at most municipal airports), schools, and local units of government, nor does it recognize values recorded by personal weather stations, store-bought measuring equipment, vehicle sensors, or anything not subject to National Weather Service quality-control protocols.

Wind, barometric pressure, heat index, and wind chill records may be obtained from a wider variety of automated sensors, including non-National Weather Service-operated equipment, so long as the equipment is sited and maintained adequately, and is known to perform well.

TemperatureRecordDateLocationCounty
Maximum115 deg. F. *   July 29, 1917BeardsleyBig Stone
Minimum-60 deg. F.February 2, 1996near TowerSt. Louis
Maximum 24-hour change72 degrees F.February 2, 1970Nett LakeKoochiching
Snow    
Maximum 24-hour snowfall36.0 inchesJanuary 7, 1994near FinlandLake
Maximum single storm snowfall46.5 inchesJanuary 6-8, 1994near FinlandLake
Maximum seasonal snowfall170.5 inches1949-1950near Grand PortageCook
Maximum monthly snowfall66.4 inchesMarch 1965CollegevilleStearns
Maximum snow depth75 inchesMarch 28, 1950near Grand PortageCook
Earliest measurable snowfall0.3 inchesSept. 14, 1964International FallsKoochiching
Latest measurable snowfall1.5 inchesJune 4, 1935MizpahKoochiching
Precipitation    
Maximum 24-hour total15.10 inchesAugust 19, 2007HokahHouston
Maximum monthly total23.86 inchesAugust 2007HokahHouston
Maximum annual total60.21 inches2018HarmonyFillmore
Minimum annual total6.37 inches1976OrtonvilleBig Stone
Longest dry spell79 days11/9/43 - 1/26/44Beardsley, Canby,
Marshall, Dawson
 
Wind    
Maximum measured gust121 mphSeptember 1, 2011DonaldsonKittson
Pressure    
Maximum31.17 inchesFebruary  17, 1989International FallsKoochiching
Minimum28.21 inchesOctober 26, 2010BigforkItasca

* The maximum high temperature record for Minnesota was amended by the National Centers for Environmental Information (formerly the National Climatic Data Center). The record, previously cited as 114.5 degrees F at Beardsley, was rounded to 115 degrees.

 

Climate Extremes Information from the National Climatic Data Center

 

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