A strong warm front pulled very mild air into Minnesota on Wednesday December 30th. With virtually no snow cover over the southern two thirds of the state, temperatures soared into the 40's and 50's by late afternoon. Lamberton saw 59 degrees which is one of the highest temperatures seen for the last few days of December. The Twin Cities saw a record high of 51 degrees breaking the old record of 47 that was set in 1980 and tied in 1949 and 1965.

The statements below are courtesy the National Weather Service on the December warmth.

PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TWIN CITIES/CHANHASSEN MN
724 PM CST THU DEC 30 2004
HERE ARE SOME HIGH TEMPERATURES THURSDAY AFTERNOON ACROSS PARTS OF
SOUTHWEST AND SOUTH CENTRAL MINNESOTA.

REDWOOD FALLS   58
NEW ULM         57
ST JAMES        57
FAIRMONT        55
OWATONNA        54
MANKATO         53
MONTEVIDEO      53
WASECA          53
ALBERT LEA      51
TWIN CITIES     50
WILLMAR         50
FARIBAULT       50
APPLETON        48


RECORD EVENT REPORT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DULUTH MN
0450 PM CST FRI DEC 31 2004

...RECORD HIGH TEMPERATURE SET AT INTERNATIONAL FALLS...
A RECORD HIGH TEMPERATURE OF 32 DEGREES WAS SET AT INTERNATIONAL FALLS TODAY. 
THIS BREAKS THE OLD RECORD OF 31 SET IN 1986.

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URL: http://climate.umn.edu/doc/journal/balmy041230.htm
Last modified: January 3, 2005