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Cold October 2002 Temperatures in Twin Cities
October 2002 was unusually cold and cloudy in Minnesota. The Twin Cities finished with the 3rd coldest October
in the modern era of record keeping. The average temperature for the Twin Cities was a chilly 41.8 degrees.
Not only that, October finished the cloudiest in the Twin Cites since solar radiation records began at the
St. Paul Campus Climate Observatory in 1963. The official snow site for the Twin Cities in Chanhassen recorded
.6 inches of snow. This is an average amount of snow for the month of October in the Twin Cities. It seemed like
more than that. There was at least a trace of snow reported on 10 dates in October.
Coldest October Temperatures for Minneapolis/St. Paul
Rank Year Avg. Temp (degrees F) ------------------------ 1 1925 38.3 2 1917 38.6 3 2002 41.8 4 1972 43.7 5 1988 44.0 6 1952 44.4 6 1959 44.4 8 1976 44.6 8 1987 44.6 10 1919 44.7 normal = 48.7 degrees F warmest - 1947, 59.3 degrees F Historical data used for this table are from the downtown Minneapolis office of the U.S. Weather Bureau (1891-1938), and the Twin Cities International Airport (1938-present). October was also extraordinarily gloomy. Solar radiation measurements made on the St. Paul Campus of the University of Minnesota indicate that October 2002 will finish with the lowest October daily average solar radiation value in the 40 year history of the data set (1963-present). Our thanks to Dave Ruschy of the University of Minnesota - Department of Soil, Water, and Climate for providing us with the following: October 2002 will go down as the lowest average daily solar radiation for any October at the St. Paul Campus Climatological Observatory. Record begins in 1963. (Thus this is the 40th year of solar data at the station.) Stats: October, 2002 averaged 175.6 langleys per day. 1963-2001 stats for October 1-31 average = 231.8 minimum = 192.0 in 1971 maximum = 284.9 in 1988
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