History of Minnesota Twins Home Opener Weather

April 1, 2013 will be the earliest outdoor opener in Twins History in Minnesota.

April in Minnesota is a transitional month. The weather can fluctuate wildly from some fairly hot days to some very chilly readings and even some snowfall. The Minnesota Twins returned to outdoor baseball in 2010. The Twins also played outdoor baseball from 1961 to 1981 at Metropolitan Stadium in Bloomington and then moved to the Metrodome from 1982 to 2009. For the 21 home openers played at Metropolitan Stadium and the three home openers played so far at Target Field, there's been a variety of weather conditions. The coldest home opener was April 14, 1962 with a high of 34 degrees and a low of 20 that day reported at the Twin Cities International Airport. Winds were quite brisk and gusting to 21mph out of the NW in the afternoon. The Minnesota Twins lost to the California Angels that day 5-12. The warmest opener was April 22, 1980 with a high temperature of 90 degrees. The Twins played the California Angels on this opener too, this time the Twins won 8-1. The average high temperature for the day on the dates for the home openers over the 24 years is 60 degrees.

There's been a trace of snow reported at the International Airport on only one day that the Twins had an outdoor opener. This was on April 23, 1972- ironically the latest outdoor home opener. The afternoon had temperatures in the low 40's with rain showers and a few ice pellets mixed in.

 

Minnesota Twins Outdoor Home Opener 1961-1981 and 2010-2012
METROPOLITAN STADIUM
DATE			OPPOSING TEAM SCORE AND RESULT	      	HIGH	LOW	PRECIP	SNOW
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4/21/1961	vs	Washington Senators 3-5 L 		65	34	0	0
4/14/1962	vs	Los Angeles Angels 5-12 L		34	20	0	0
4/9/1963	vs	Cleveland Indians 4-5 L			51	23	0	0
4/22/1964	vs	Washington Senators 7-6 W		58	40	T	0
4/12/1965	vs	New York Yankees 5-4 W			48	33	0.01	0
4/12/1966	vs	Kansas City Athletics 2-1 W		55	34	0	0
4/14/1967	vs	Detroit Tigers 5-3 W 36-31		60	49	0.35	0
4/17/1968	vs	Washington Senators 13-1 W		65	51	t	0
4/18/1969	vs	California Angels 6-0 W			61	34	0	0
4/11/1970	vs	Oakland Athletics 8-2 W			54	37	0	0
4/6/1971	vs	Milwaukee Brewers 2-7 L			56	23	0	0
4/23/1972	vs	Oakland Athletics 8-4 W			45	33	0.02	t
4/13/1973	vs	Oakland Athletics 8-4 W			54	26	T	0
4/9/1974	vs	Chicago White Sox 3-1 W			60	30	0	0
4/15/1975	vs	California Angels 3-7 L			51	36	T	0
4/13/1976	vs	Chicago White Sox 1-4 L			78	44	0	0
4/15/1977	vs	Oakland Athletics 2-3 L			79	51	T	0
4/14/1978	vs	Seattle Mariners 14-5 W 		54	29	0	0
4/17/1979	vs	California Angels 0-6 L			64	48	0	0
4/22/1980	vs	California Angels 8-1 W			90	53	0	0
4/9/1981	vs	Oakland Athletics 1-5 L			68	35	t	0
TARGET FIELD						
4/12/2010	vs	Boston Red Sox 5-2 W			68	47	0	0
4/8/2011	vs	Oakland Athletics 2-1 W			64	41	0	0
4/9/2012	vs	Los Angeles Angels 1-5 L		48	31	0	0
4/1/2013        vs      Detroit Tigers 2-4 L                    36      19      0       0

Note: Opener history dates and scores courtesy Baseball Almanac.

Last modified: April 29, 2015
Pete Boulay, DNR Climatologist

 

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