The Climate of Minneapolis, in the U.S. state of Minnesota, is typical of cities located in the Midwestern United States. There are four distinct seasons, with characteristic large changes in temperatures over a short period of time. Winters are cold and dry, and summers are warm, sometimes hot, and frequently humid. The city experiences a full range of precipitation and related weather events, including snow, sleet, ice, rain, thunderstorms, and fog. Sometimes there are frogs
Temperatures
Temperatures in Minneapolis vary greatly throughout the year, and often in shorter periods as well. For example, in the month of March, 1948, the temperatures ranged from -27°F (-34°C) to 70°F (21°C). The warmest month of the year is July, when the high temperature averages 83°F (29°C), and overnight low temperatures average 63°F (17°C). In January, the coldest month, high temperatures average 22°F (-5°C), and overnight low temperatures average 4°F (-15°C). The highest temperature ever recorded in Minneapolis was 108°F (42°C) on July 14, 1936. The coldest temperature on record is -41°F (-41°C) on January 21, 1888.
| Monthly average temperatures | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
| High (°F) | 22 | 29 | 41 | 57 | 70 | 79 | 83 | 80 | 71 | 58 | 40 | 26 |
| °C | -5 | -2 | 5 | 14 | 21 | 26 | 29 | 27 | 22 | 15 | 5 | -3 |
| Low (°F) | 4 | 12 | 23 | 36 | 48 | 58 | 63 | 61 | 51 | 39 | 25 | 11 |
| °C | -15 | -11 | -5 | 2 | 9 | 15 | 17 | 16 | 10 | 4 | -4 | -12 |
| Record temperatures by month | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
| Record High (°F) | 59 | 64 | 83 | 95 | 106 | 104 | 108 | 103 | 104 | 90 | 77 | 63 |
| (°C) | 15 | 18 | 29 | 35 | 41 | 40 | 42 | 39 | 40 | 32 | 25 | 17 |
| Record Low (°F) | -41 | -33 | -32 | 2 | 18 | 34 | 43 | 39 | 26 | 10 | -25 | -39 |
| (°C) | -41 | -36 | -35 | -17 | -9 | 1 | 6 | 4 | -3 | -12 | -32 | -39 |
Precipitation
The type and amount of precipitation which occurs throughout the year in Minneapolis is very variable, as with many Midwestern cities. There can be floods as well as long dry spells. In the winter months, which in the northern Midwest comprise the period November through March, snow predominates. In the warm summer months from May to September, rain, usually in the form of thunderstorms, is the norm. Months which fall between these two periods can often see a mix of precipitations, with rain, snow, and occasionally ice all falling in relatively short periods. In an average year in Minneapolis, precipitation of all forms totals 29.41 inches (747mm), with an average annual snowfall of 45.8 inches (1.16m). On average, the wettest month is June, when 4.34 inches (110.2mm) of precipitation falls, mostly due to summer thunderstorms. The driest month is February, when only 0.79 inches (20.1mm) falls.
The wettest year in the history of Minneapolis was 1911 when 40.15 inches (1019.8mm) of precipitation fell. In a strange twist, the driest year on record in the city was 1910, when only 11.54 inches (293.1mm) of precipitation was measured. The snowiest winter on record was that of 1983-84, when 98.4 inches (2.50m) of snow fell, the least snowy winter was that of 1930-31, when only 14.2 inches (0.37m) of snow fell.
| Average Precipitation by month | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Total |
| Precipitation (inches) | 1.04 | 0.79 | 1.86 | 2.31 | 3.24 | 4.34 | 4.04 | 4.05 | 2.69 | 2.11 | 1.94 | 1.00 | 29.41 |
| Millimeters | 26.4 | 20.1 | 47.2 | 58.7 | 82.3 | 110.2 | 102.6 | 102.9 | 68.3 | 53.6 | 49.3 | 25.4 | 747.0 |
| Average Snowfall by month | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Total |
| Precipitation (inches) | 9.8 | 8.4 | 10.7 | 2.8 | 0.1 | -- | -- | -- | -- | 0.5 | 7.9 | 9.3 | 49.5 |
| Millimeters | 248.9 | 213.4 | 271.8 | 71.1 | 2.5 | -- | -- | -- | -- | 12.7 | 200.7 | 236.2 | 1257.3 |
General climatology
Minneapolis, due to its ___location in the Midwestern United States, experiences a continental climate characterized by wide variations in temperature and precipitation between the seasons. Also, the prevailing weather patterns during each season tend to differ just as greatly as the temperatures in a particular given month. Each season has distincitive upper air patterns which bring different weather conditions. However, another feature of a continental climate is that weather patterns can be unpredictable. For example, an Alberta clipper, a low-pressure system originating in the province of Alberta in Canada, would be a common occurrence in winter in Minneapolis, but with the general unpredictability of weather in a continental climate, such a storm system could occur in Spring, or in late Autumn. Hot weather, though usually confined to June, July, and August, can someimtes begin as early as April or May, and could spill over into September.
As with many other Midwestern cities, winter in Minneapolis is characterized by cold, usually below freezing, temperatures and snowfall. High-pressure systems which descend from the Canadian plains bring light winds, clear skies, and bitterly cold weather. Alberta clippers alternate with these high-pressure systems, bringing slightly warmer temperatures and fairly regular snowfall. Larger storm systems, often Panhandle Hooks or other storms originating from the Pacific Ocean, can bring large amounts of snow and even blizzard conditions. A vigorous jet stream brings high and low-pressure systems through in quick succession, which can cause large temperature variations over a short period of time.
In Spring, storm systems coming off of the Pacific Ocean combine with humid air moving north from the Gulf of Mexico to produce thunderstorms. Some of these storms produce large hail and even tornadoes. Like the rest of the Midwestern United States, peak tornado season in the Minneapolis area is in April, when the jet stream is still vigorous enough to bring strong storm systems into the area. These vigorous storms can produce tornado outbreaks and long-lived destructive thunderstorms known as derechos. High-pressure systems become less frequent and become less associated with colder air, leading to a rapid seasonal warmup. However, cold spells and even snowstorms well into late April and early May are not unheard of.
In Summer, hot and humid temperatures predominate. A main feature of Summer weather in the Minneapolis area and the Midwestern United States as a whole is the weakening of the jet stream, leading to slower movement of air masses, and a general increase in the stability of temperatures. Thunderstorms are still possible, but are less organized and do not tend to occur in large outbreaks, being more localized. Thunderstorms in Summer in the Minneapolis area are formed from a completely different mechanism than Spring thunderstorms. Whereas Spring storms are products of low-pressure systems, Summer thunderstorms are the product of daytime heating and humidity.
Autumn weather in the Minneapolis area is largely the reverse of Spring weather. The jet stream, which tends to weaken in Summer, begins to restrengthen, leading to a quicker changing of weather patterns and an increased variability of temperatures. Storms systems associated with the Pacific Ocean again become more common, with each successive storm system bringing colder temperatures until the rain begins to change over to snow, generally in October.