It might have been summer seemingly over night in some parts of the state last week including the southwest metro, but meteorologists predict cooler temperatures will linger until the end of the month, possibly until mid May.
Jake Beitlich, meteorologist for the National Weather Service in Chanhassen, said to many people’s dismay, there will be no warm up in sight.
“Generally speaking, it looks like we’re going to finish the month of April on a cooler trend with temperatures slightly below normal,” Beitlich said. “I know that’s what people don’t want to hear. I wish I could say there will be warm weather soon but the way it’s looking, we’re going to have below normal temperatures through the end of the month.”
Beitlich explained that the below normal temperatures is actually not too unusual for this time of year in several parts of Minnesota.
“Normally it is around the mid-upper 50s going into the lower 60s by the time early May rolls around,” Beitlich said. “Our temperatures are going to be generally in the upper 40s to lower 50s this time. Nothing too severe, just cooler than where we should be by a few degrees.”
Record high temperatures
According to Twin Cities historical records from the NWS, the Twin Cities Metro has never had four consecutive days of 80+ degrees before April 15.
“I think that stretch from April 11-14 was pretty noteworthy. We had four consecutive days of highs in the 80s. The warmest was 86 on April 12 and 87 on April 13,” Beitlich said. “But aside from that, we’ve just been near or slightly below normal. We really haven’t had that taste of spring that I think people are hoping for.”
As to why we haven’t experienced more warmer days yet, Beitlich said it’s due to not getting any warm air yet from the south.
“We’ve been kind of in a northwest flow where we really haven’t gotten warm air coming from the south,” Beitlich said. “It’s usually been air from the high plains to out west and air coming down from Canada. So, that’s kept us in that cooler regime where we really never got that warm up aside from last week where we were in the 80s in a couple places, even close to 90.”
Flood warnings
Beitlich said the latest record high temperatures is a double-edged sword meaning the abundance of snowmelt has ended Carver and Scott Counties drought but has also led to some severe flooding in some areas.
“The good thing about the snow and the rain that we’ve had, winter into spring, is that it did bring us some moisture that we needed because we were in a drought last fall,” Beitlich said. “However, all that snow melted pretty quickly during that warm stretch and so that has led to a lot of flooding in the rivers in the low lands across the region. For example the South Fork Crow River near Mayer has crest around 15.6 feet that will remain in flood stage for the next week.”
Beitlich said areas to the west are still a little dry and even under wildfire warnings, even with recent snow melts.
“Scott and Carver counties are not in a drought. Areas to the west are still a little bit dry but overall, the snow and the rain that we’ve received over the last few months helped to replenish that soil moisture,” he said. “The Minnesota River near Jordan is on the rise from all the water up stream and that looks to go into flood stage between Wednesday and Thursday. River flooding is definitely a concern this spring.”
According to the NWS Twin Cities/Chanhassen, there are flood warnings for the following rivers in Minnesota: Minnesota River near Jordan affecting Scott, Sibley and Carver Counties until further notice. The Minnesota River at Savage will also affect parts of Scott, Hennepin, Dakota and Carver Counties as well. The combination of spring snowmelt and upcoming rainfall will continue to cause very high river levels on the Minnesota River through the coming week.
The bridge at Scott County Road 9 and Carver County Road 11 in Jordan will prepare to close as water rises up to 26.7 feet, according to NWS Twin Cities/Chanhassen.
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