Minnesota breaks century-old Christmas temperature record
Several areas of Minnesota broke centuries-old temperature records for Christmas Day on Monday.
According to a post by the National Weather Service’s (NWS) Twin Cities Forecast Office on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, the city of St. Cloud, Minn., experienced a record-high temperature of 48 degrees, beating the record of 47 set in 1922.
The NWS also noted other record-high temperatures as recorded at its stations at Minneapolis–Saint Paul (MSP) International Airport and in Eau Claire, Wis., on Christmas Day, breaking records set in 1922 and 1940, respectively.
In a separate post, the NWS Twin Cities office also noted that all three locations saw record-high minimum temperatures, with St. Cloud, MSP International Airport and Eau Claire experiencing highs of 36, 32 and 50 degrees, respectively. All three temperatures in the aforementioned cities broke records set in 1936.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) warned earlier this month of the effects of an El Niño weather pattern, including warmer-than-average temperatures and increased precipitation this winter. El Niño, a climate pattern that happens on average every two to three years, brings warmer sea temperatures close to the equator.
“Based on the latest forecasts, there is now a 54% chance of a ‘historically strong’ El Niño during the November-January season,” Climate Prediction Center forecasters wrote in a discussion post at the time.
According to NOAA predictions, regions including the Pacific Northwest, New England and the Midwest may see above-average temperatures for the next few months. The NWS forecast 68 percent of the country this week would see above-average temperatures and 53 percent would see above-average precipitation.
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