Courtesy: Minnesota Historical Society
Thanksgiving Day occurs during the transition between autumn and winter, so its weather can be anything from balmy to brutal. So what's the weather usually like?
The "normal" high temperature on Thanksgiving Day, based on 1991-2020 averages, is 32 F in Duluth, 29 F in International Falls, 38 F in Rochester, 34 F at St. Cloud, and 38 F in the Twin Cities. Normal low temperatures are in the teens F across most of Minnesota. Temperatures have been as high as the 60s F in southern Minnesota (and the upper 40s F in northern and northeastern Minnesota), and have been deeply subzero in some years. In 1985, the temperature fell to -34 F at Argyle and -32 F at International Falls, ahead of a huge winter storm taking aim at the region.
Although the Thanksgiving holiday travel period (often considered Wednesday through Sunday) has boasted some legendary winter storms, the snowfall statistics for Thanksgiving itself are not outstanding. The highest Thanksgiving snow on record in Duluth is 8.1 inches, with five inches in the Twin Cities, and 3.7 inches at Rochester.
In the Twin Cities, mild Thanksgiving conditions, with temperatures in the 50s F, have only occurred eleven times in 150 years, or about once every 13 years or so. The most recent very warm Thanksgiving was November 22, 2012, when the temperature hit 60 F, two degrees short of the record high of 62 F observed in 1914 and 1922. Very cold conditions struck most recently in 2014, when the low temperature was -4 F in the Twin Cities, with -20s F in northern Minnesota. Below-zero lows have occurred ten times in the past 148 years.
Historically, about one in three Thanksgivings have at least one inch of snow on the ground in the Twin Cities, and the deepest snow cover measured was 10 inches in both 1921 and 1983. By contrast, International Falls has at least an inch of snow cover on Thanksgiving in about seven out of 10 years, with a high of 17 inches in 1955, and 15 inches measured on Thanksgiving as recently as 2010.
It occasionally rains on Thanksgiving Day as well. In 1896, a two-day event in the Twin Cities doused Thanksgiving travelers with nearly three inches of rain.
Thanksgiving weather is changing too. Since 1872, the average the mean daily temperature in the Twin Cities has increased by about 7.5 degrees F, with over half of that increase coming since 1970. At at the long-term rural observing station at Milan, in west-central Minnesota, Thanksgiving has warmed by 6.6 degrees F since 1970.
The following table summarizes Thanksgiving Day for the Twin Cities, from 1872 to 2023.
Thanksgiving Day climatology for the Twin Cities, 1872-2023 Year Month Day High Low precip snow snow depth 1872 11 28 -1 -13 0.00 M M 1873 11 27 21 2 0.00 M M 1874 11 26 31 9 .14 M M 1875 11 25 33 26 0.00 M M 1876 11 30 15 1 0.00 M M 1877 11 24 43 33 0.00 M M 1878 11 28 42 21 0.00 M M 1879 11 27 34 29 0.01 M M 1880 11 25 13 -18 0.00 M M 1881 11 24 22 2 0.00 M M 1882 11 30 32 17 0.00 M M 1883 11 29 38 18 0.00 M M 1884 11 27 20 14 0.01 T M 1885 11 25 42 19 T 0.0 M 1886 11 25 15 8 T T M 1887 11 24 29 24 0.14 1.4 M 1888 11 29 33 29 T T M 1889 11 28 20 11 .01 .1 M 1890 11 27 37 22 0.00 0.0 M 1891 11 26 26 13 T T M 1892 11 24 26 6 0.00 0.0 M 1893 11 30 12 -8 0.07 0.8 M 1894 11 29 30 12 0.00 0.0 M 1895 11 28 37 27 T 0.0 M 1896 11 26 49 30 1.76 0.0 M 1897 11 25 31 22 0.05 0.7 M 1898 11 24 12 -7 0.00 0.0 M 1899 11 30 41 32 0.01 0.0 0 1900 11 29 35 15 0.00 0.0 2 1901 11 28 48 23 0.00 0.0 0 1902 11 27 34 19 T T T 1903 11 26 18 0 0.00 0.0 T 1904 11 24 38 32 0.00 0.0 0 1905 11 30 16 -8 0.00 0.0 5 1906 11 29 39 26 0.04 T 0 1907 11 28 35 23 0.00 0.0 0 1908 11 26 36 26 T T T 1909 11 25 39 34 0.00 0.0 T 1910 11 24 46 29 0.00 0.0 0 1911 11 30 37 20 0.00 0.0 4 1912 11 28 42 16 0.00 0.0 T 1913 11 27 43 37 0.01 0.0 0 1914 11 26 62 31 0.00 0.0 0 1915 11 25 45 34 0.00 0.0 T 1916 11 30 42 24 0.00 0.0 0 1917 11 29 36 27 T 0.0 T 1918 11 28 37 28 T 0.5 1 1919 11 27 13 5 0.05 1.2 2 1920 11 25 32 30 T T T 1921 11 24 24 17 0.00 T 10 1922 11 30 62 24 0.44 0.0 0 1923 11 29 46 29 0.00 0.0 0 1924 11 27 28 17 0.01 0.1 T 1925 11 26 39 16 0.00 0.0 0 1926 11 25 36 27 0.08 0.0 1 1927 11 24 40 26 0.00 0.0 1 1928 11 29 30 22 T T 0 1929 11 28 12 -4 T T T 1930 11 27 7 -3 T T 3 1931 11 26 31 17 0.02 0.0 0 1932 11 24 50 21 0.00 0.0 0 1933 11 30 47 28 0.00 0.0 0 1934 11 29 32 28 0.00 0.0 0 1935 11 28 19 8 0.04 0.6 1 1936 11 26 19 16 T 1.5 1 1937 11 25 43 35 T 0.0 0 1938 11 24 19 7 T T 0 1939* 11 30 60 24 0.00 0.0 0 1940 11 21 34 28 0.28 T T 1941 11 20 34 24 T T 0 1942 11 26 22 12 T 0.2 1 1943 11 25 36 28 T 0.0 0 1944 11 23 35 31 0.02 0.2 0 1945 11 22 21 14 0.06 1.2 1 1946 11 28 38 17 0.00 0.0 0 1947 11 27 20 5 0.03 1.2 7 1948 11 25 39 32 0.05 0.4 0 1949 11 24 27 23 T T 1 1950 11 23 16 -5 0.02 0.2 2 1951 11 22 24 11 0.00 0.0 0 1952 11 27 14 4 T T 9 1953 11 26 31 20 T T 0 1954 11 25 30 23 0.00 0.0 0 1955 11 24 31 7 0.00 0.0 1 1956 11 22 17 8 0.00 0.0 3 1957 11 28 29 21 T 0.0 1 1958 11 27 18 2 T T 0 1959 11 26 26 11 0.00 0.0 0 1960 11 24 45 28 0.00 0.0 0 1961 11 23 39 24 T T 0 1962 11 22 33 20 T 0.0 0 1963 11 28 48 28 T T 0 1964 11 26 23 7 T T 1 1965 11 25 37 28 0.01 T 0 1966 11 24 42 32 0.06 0.0 0 1967 11 23 39 16 T T 0 1968 11 28 35 20 0.00 0.0 0 1969 11 27 26 17 0.00 T 0 1970 11 26 32 12 0.31 5.0 1 1971 11 25 33 30 0.22 2.6 3 1972 11 23 38 16 0.00 0.0 0 1973 11 22 45 27 0.00 0.0 0 1974 11 28 27 15 T T 0 1975 11 27 28 12 0.00 0.0 4 1976 11 25 42 29 0.09 0.7 0 1977 11 24 16 6 0.13 1.7 3 1978 11 23 28 24 0.05 0.9 8 1979 11 22 35 33 0.16 1.5 2 1980 11 27 40 22 0.00 0.0 0 1981 11 26 37 31 0.16 0.9 3 1982 11 25 36 19 T T 0 1983 11 24 25 14 T T 10 1984 11 22 40 21 0.00 0.0 0 1985 11 28 11 -8 0.08 2.2 5 1986 11 27 47 24 0.00 0.0 0 1987 11 26 32 26 0.00 T 0 1988 11 24 52 35 0.00 0.0 0 1989 11 23 18 2 0.01 0.1 5 1990 11 22 50 27 0.00 0.0 0 1991 11 28 23 10 0.00 0.0 6 1992 11 26 34 22 T T 0 1993 11 25 33 20 0.45 4.3 2 1994 11 24 48 28 0.00 0.0 0 1995 11 23 20 9 0.00 0.0 0 1996 11 28 31 17 0.00 0.0 9 1997 11 27 45 29 0.00 0.0 1 1998 11 26 58 28 0.00 0.0 0 1999 11 25 47 30 0.00 0.0 0 2000 11 23 29 16 0.00 0.0 1 2001 11 22 55 36 0.00 0.0 0 2002 11 28 45 19 0.00 0.0 0 2003 11 27 33 24 0.04 0.0 4 2004 11 25 34 22 T T T 2005 11 24 21 11 0.00 0.0 0 2006 11 23 54 29 0.00 0.0 0 2007 11 22 29 16 T 0.2 T 2008 11 27 42 22 0.00 0.0 0 2009 11 26 36 27 0.00 0.0 0 2010 11 25 27 6 T T 1 2011 11 24 59 36 0.00 0.0 0 2012 11 22 60 24 0.02 0.1 0 2013 11 28 29 15 0.00 0.0 0 2014 11 27 10 -4 0.02 0.3 2 2015 11 26 40 24 0.12 1.3 0 2016 11 24 37 34 0.04 T 2 2017 11 23 49 23 0.00 0.0 0 2018 11 22 37 27 0.00 0.0 0 2019 11 28 28 22 0.00 0.0 7 2020 11 26 36 28 0.00 0.0 0 2021 11 25 26 14 T T 0 2022 11 24 43 31 0.00 0.0 T 2023 11 23 37 20 0.00 0.0 0
Note: Thanksgiving dates prior to 1942 often were determined at the state level and did not conform to the current federal policy of observing the holiday on the fourth Thursday in November. In 1939, Minnesota's Republican governor, Harold Stassen, did not follow Democrat president Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s proclamation to hold Thanksgiving on the third Thursday in November, and that year Minnesota celebrated Thanksgiving on November 30. The governor seemed to have a change of heart for the next two years and went with Roosevelt’s recommendation and had Thanksgiving on November 21 in 1940 and November 20 in 1941.
The U.S. Congress in 1941 established the current law, stating that Thanksgiving would occur annually on the fourth Thursday of November.