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 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 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.
Pete Boulay, DNR Climatologist