Christmas Day Climatology

Christmas Day, 1996 will go down in history as the coldest and most snow-covered on record for many Minnesota communities. Record cold minimum (and maximum) temperatures were set across the state. Christmas Day snow depths over western and central Minnesota were at or near record levels for the date. The median Christmas Day snow depth for Minneapolis/St. Paul is 3 inches. In fact, roughly one quarter of all Christmas' this century have been "brown" in the Twin Cities. Below you will find some of the record event reports that were issued by the National Weather Service for December 25 and 26.

RECORD EVENT REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE EASTERN NORTH DAKOTA/GRAND FORKS ND
740 AM CST WED DEC 25 1996

...LOWEST DAILY MAXIMUM TEMPERATURE RECORD SET IN GRAND FORKS...

THE HIGH TEMPERATURE ON DECEMBER 24TH IN GRAND FORKS ONLY REACHED 13
BELOW ZERO.  THIS BREAKS THE OLD RECORD FOR THE LOWEST MAXIMUM
TEMPERATURE OF 11 BELOW ZERO SET IN 1933.

RECORD EVENT REPORT FOR INTERNATIONAL FALLS
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE INTERNATIONAL FALLS...MINNESOTA
713 AM CST WED DEC 25 1996

...NATIONS ICEBOX SMASHES RECORD FOR COLDEST CHRISTMAS TEMPERATURE...

BRRRR FOR SANTA...
                                                          
AT 713 AM THE MERCURY PLUNGED TO MINUS THIRTY SEVEN DEGREES 
SMASHING THE OLD RECORD OF MINUS THIRTY FOUR DEGREES SET IN 1968.

      
RECORD EVENT REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TWIN CITIES/CHANHASSEN MN
919 AM CDT WED DEC 25 1996

...A NEW RECORD LOW TEMPERATURE FOR CHRISTMAS...

AT 822 AM...THE TEMPERATURE AT THE TWIN CITIES INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT
DROPPED TO 22 BELOW ZERO. THIS BREAKS THE OLD RECORD LOW FOR CHRISTMAS
OF 20 BELOW SET IN 1962.

RECORD EVENT REPORT...CORRECTED...
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TWIN CITIES/CHANHASSEN MN
1255 PM CDT WED DEC 25 1996

...RECORD COLD FOR CHRISTMAS MORNING TIED IN ST CLOUD...

THE TEMPERATURE AT THE ST CLOUD AIRPORT FELL TO 25 DEGREES BELOW ZERO
AT 818 AM. THIS TIES THE RECORD LOW FOR THIS DATE ORIGNALLY SET BACK
IN 1968.

RECORD EVENT REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TWIN CITIES/CHANHASSEN MN
445 PM CST WED DEC 25 1996

...COLDEST CHRISTMAS DAY ON RECORD IN THE TWIN CITIES...

SHORTLY AFTER 3 PM THIS AFTERNOON...THE HIGHEST TEMPERATURE RECORDED
AT THE TWIN CITES AIRPORT WAS 9 BELOW ZERO. THIS IS A RECORD LOW MAXIMUM
TEMP FOR DECEMBER 25...BREAKING THE OLD RECORD OF 6 BELOW IN 1933. WITH
A RECORD MORNING LOW OF 22 BELOW THIS MORNING...THE MEAN TEMPERATURE FOR
TODAY IN THE TWIN CITIES WAS 16 BELOW. THAT ALSO MAKES TODAY THE COLDEST
CHRISTMAS ON RECORD IN THE METRO AREA GOING BACK TO WHEN MODERN DAY RECORDS
BEGAN OVER 100 YEARS AGO IN 1890.

PREVIOUSLY...THE COLDEST CHRISTMAS IN THE TWIN CITIES WAS IN 1933 WHEN
A HIGH OF 6 BELOW AND A LOW OF 16 BELOW WERE RECORDED. IN FACT...DATING
BACK TO 1890...THERE HAVE ONLY BEEN 5 CHRISTMAS DAYS WHEN THE HIGH DID
NOT REACH THE ZERO DEGREE MARK. THOSE YEARS WERE 1902..1903..1914..
1933 AND NOW 1996.

RECORD EVENT REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TWIN CITIES/CHANHASSEN MN
550 AM CDT THU DEC 26 1996

...A NEW RECORD LOW TEMPERATURE FOR CHRISTMAS AND DECEMBER 26TH IN
   ST CLOUD...

CHRISTMAS DAY SAW OVERNIGHT LOW TEMPERATURE IN ST CLOUD OF 25 BELOW TYING
THE PREVIOUS RECORD LOW SET IN 1968. BUT THE ST CLOUD AREA WAS NOT DONE
WITH THE RECORD COLD. THIS MORNING THE LOW HAS BEEN 30 BELOW SO FAR WHICH
BREAKS THE OLD RECORD LOW OB 29 BELOW ESTABLISHED IN 1990.

RECORD EVENT REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TWIN CITIES/CHANHASSEN MN
705 AM CDT THU DEC 26 1996

...A NEW RECORD LOW TEMPERATURE FOR THE TWIN CITIES...

AT 7 AM THE TEMPEATURE AT THE TWIN CITIES AIRPORT DROPPED TO 25 BELOW
SMASHING THE OLD RECORD OF 22 BELOW PREVIOUSLY ESTABLISHED IN 1990. THE
WEATHER OFFICE AT CHANHASSEN WAS ALSO REPORTING A 7 AM TEMPERATURE OF
25 BELOW...HOWEVER NO RECORDS HAVE BEEN ESTABLISHED FOR THE CHANHASSEN
OFFICE.

RECORD EVENT REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TWIN CITIES/CHANHASSEN MN
900 AM CDT THU DEC 26 1996

...A NEW RECORD LOW TEMPERATURE FOR THE TWIN CITIES...

THE LOWEST TEMPEATURE AT THE TWIN CITIES AIRPORT DROPPED TO
27 BELOW ZERO AT 8 AM THIS MORNING. THE OLD RECORD WAS 22 BELOW SET
ON THIS DATE IN 1990.

RECORD EVENT REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TWIN CITIES/CHANHASSEN MN
905 AM CDT THU DEC 26 1996

...RECORD COLD IN ST CLOUD...

THE LOWEST TEMPERATURE AT THE ST CLOUD AIRPORT FELL TO 34 BELOW ZERO
AT 8 AM. THIS IS A NEW RECORD LOW THE DATE.

THE OLD RECORD WAS 29 BELOW SET DECEMBER 26 1914.

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mcwg@soils.umn.edu
URL: http://climate.umn.edu/doc/journal/christma.htm
Last modified: December 27, 1996