Image credit: National Weather Service
Here are the results of voting for the top five weather events of 2025 from the Minnesota State Climatology Office. Votes were cast from various weather enthusiasts including the National Weather Service, the University of Minnesota, State agencies and Facebook followers. Please visit us on Facebook and post your own top five weather events for Minnesota.
#5. A Mess of Heavy Snow, Slush, and Ice, December 9-10, 2025.A strong "Clipper" system produced a band of intense snow along with a mix snow, sleet, freezing rain, and rain across much of Minnesota from Tuesday December 9 into Wednesday December 10, 2025. Snowfall totals of 3 to 8 inches were generally found along a northwest-to-southeast axis running along and mostly north of I-94. The National Weather Service observer in Ottertail received 10.0, with 9.0 inches in Cass Lake and Warren. Other totals around the state included 6.6 inches at St. Cloud, 4.4 inches in the Twin Cities, 1.3 inches in Rochester, 1.2 inches in Duluth, and 0.2 inches at International Falls.
#4. Hot, Fiery Weather, May 10-14, 2025. A hot, dry air mass overspread Minnesota beginning on Saturday May 10th, with record high temperatures and an outbreak of wildfires in parts of the state. The heat reached its greatest intensity on Sunday May 11th with northern Minnesota coming in as the hottest part of the state. International Falls reached a maximum temperature of 96 F, which shattered the old daily record of 83 F, and became the highest temperature ever recorded so early in the season at that station. St. Cloud, the Twin Cities, and Duluth all set daily records, at 93, 90, and 87 F, respectively.
#3. The Latest Run of Summer-like Days on Record. In the midst of a prolonged warm spell that began during what was already a very warm September, sunny skies and southerly winds conspired to boost temperatures into record territory across virtually all of Minnesota on October 4th, 2025. In many parts of Minnesota, this was the latest date on record with such high temperatures. Temperatures soared into the 80s in northeastern Minnesota, and the 90s F across virtually all of the west and the south. Duluth, International Falls, Rochester, Saint Cloud, and the Twin Cities all broke high temperature records for the date. In the Twin Cities and Saint Cloud, the maximum of 91 F was highest temperature ever recorded so late in the season; at Saint Cloud, it was also the latest date on record to reach 90 F or higher.
#2. The Great Minnesota Smokeout of 2025. The summers of 2021 and 2023 may have begun to normalize wildfire smoke pollution in Minnesota, but 2025 took it to a new level and was likely the smokiest year in five decades or more. From June through August, Minnesota experienced 15 days with at least one station recording a daily Air Quality Index (AQI) of 151 or higher, which is the "Red" or "Unhealthy for everyone" category.
#1. Bemidji Blowdown: Derecho and Other Severe Thunderstorms, June 20-21, 2025. Waves of extremely intense thunderstorms Friday night and early Saturday (June 20-21, 2025) led to an extraordinary regional severe weather outbreak, with catastrophic damage near Bemidji from the strongest measured winds in Minnesota since 2012. The long-track of intense thunderstorm winds, covering multiple hundreds of miles from North Dakota into Minnesota, qualifies this storm as a "derecho" (pronounced deh-RAY-cho. The extreme winds snapped and uprooted trees; peeled off roofs; knocked down power lines and transmission towers; flipped vehicles; and produced secondary damage to structures and vehicles throughout the area. The damage was so severe that Lake Bemidji State Park closed for multiple days, and nearby Lake Itasca State Park and La Salle Lake State Recreation Area both had to limit availability of some facilities and services. The 106 mph gust at Bemidji was the strongest measured gust in Minnesota since August 3, 2012, when a 107 mph gust was recorded by a road-weather sensor in Rothsay.
Honorable Mention Record-Early Warmth, March 14 (and 15th), 2025. A burst of intense, early-spring warmth spread across Minnesota on March 14, 2025, breaking high temperature records for the date, and standing as the highest temperature on record so early in the season at some stations. Ten of these daily record-setting stations also set records for the warmest day on record so early in the season. In other words, the maximum temperatures of 77 F at Caledonia and Forest Lake; 76 F at Red Wing and Hastings; 75 F at the Twin Cities and Cambridge; and 73 F at Artichoke Lake and St. Cloud all represent the earliest instances during the year of temperatures that high.