Record Heat:
April 28, 2004

For only the 9th time in 113 years the mercury cracked the 90 degree mark in the Twin Cities during the month of April. The high on April 28th, 2004 was 91 degrees, breaking the old record of 87 degrees set back in 1934. A strong cold front in the wee hours of the 29th brought an end to the heat with temperatures tumbling 44 degrees overnight in the Twin Cities. The temperature change was 50 degrees in 12 hours at St. Cloud from a high of 91 at 7pm on the 28th. to 41 degrees at 7am on the 29th. The greatest 24 hour temperature change ever in Minnesota was 71 degrees on April 3, 1982 at Lamberton. On that date another strong cold front was the culprit and the high was 78 degrees and the low was 7.

While the cold front passed by dry over central and southern Minnesota. Some severe storms erupted over northeast Minnesota. Lightning sparked a structure and grass fire 12 miles northeast of Grand Marias and a possible tornado was sighted in the Sea Gull Lake area in Cook County. This is the 3rd tornado for the state so far in 2004.

Here is a list of places that set record high temperatures on April 28, courtesy Dr. Mark Seeley of the University of Minnesota in St. Paul.

MSP airport 91 F St Cloud airport 92 F Fargo airport 91 F
Detroit Lakes 90 F Fergus Falls 93 F Madison 91 F
Glenwood 93 F Redwood Falls 93 F Wheaton 91 F
Orr 90 F Willmar 93 F Litchfield 91 F
Hutchinson 93 F New Ulm 91 F Faribault 90 F
Waseca 90 F Albert Lea 90 F Alexandria 91 F
Olivia 93 F Morris 90 F St James 90 F
Red Wing 88 F Brainerd 87 F Little Falls 88 F
Austin 88 F Preston 90 F Cambridge 93 F
Lamberton 93 F Chaska 92 F Benson 95 F

Listed below are some storm reports courtesy the National Weather Service.



PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT ... CORRECTION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DULUTH MN
1052 AM CDT THU APR 29 2004

..TIME...   ...EVENT...     ...CITY LOCATION...      ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....     ..COUNTY LOCATION...ST.. ...SOURCE....
                 ..REMARKS..

0501 PM     TSTM WND DMG     GRAND RAPIDS            47.23N 93.52W 
04/28/2004                   SOUTHERN ITASCA    MN   AMATEUR RADIO   

           POWER POLE BLOWN DOWN

0505 PM     TSTM WND DMG     GRAND RAPIDS            47.23N 93.52W 
04/28/2004                   SOUTHERN ITASCA    MN   AMATEUR RADIO   

              TREES AND POWER POLES DOWN

0530 PM     TSTM WND DMG     3 NE LITTLE SWAN        47.33N 92.79W 
04/28/2004                   WEST CENTRAL ST. L MN   AMATEUR RADIO   

             TREES DOWN ACROSS COUNTY HWY 5

0535 PM     TSTM WND DMG     JENKINS                 46.65N 94.33W 
04/28/2004                   CROW WING          MN   EMERGENCY MNGR  

          TREES AND POWER LINES BLOWN DOWN. LIGHTNING CAUSED 
          STRUCTURE AND GRASS FIRE. TREES AND POWER LINES DOWN ALSO
          IN TROUT LAKE AND CROSS LAKE AREAS.

0550 PM     TSTM WND DMG     PINE RIVER              46.72N 94.40W 
04/28/2004                   SOUTHERN CASS      MN   TRAINED SPOTTER 

        TOP OF LARGE TREE SNAPPED OFF.

0630 PM     TSTM WND DMG     6 E PALISADE            46.71N 93.49W 
04/28/2004                   NORTHERN AITKIN    MN   NWS EMPLOYEE    

       NUMEROUS TREES DOWN ALONG HIGHWAY 232.

0649 PM     TSTM WND GST     FLOODWOOD               46.93N 92.92W 
04/28/2004  60 MPH           SOUTHWEST ST. LOUI MN   TRAINED SPOTTER 

            60 MPH THUNDERSTORM WIND GUST. TREES DOWN.

0734 PM     TSTM WND GST     AURORA                  47.53N 92.24W 
04/28/2004  70 MPH           EAST CENTRAL ST. L MN   TRAINED SPOTTER 

           70 MPH THUNDERSTORM WIND GUST

0745 PM     TORNADO          SEA GULL LAKE           48.13N 90.95W 
04/28/2004                   COOK               MN   PUBLIC          

        THIS IS PRELIMINARY. INFORMATION IS BEING GATHERED.

0751 PM     TSTM WND DMG     EMBARRASS               47.66N 92.20W 
04/28/2004                   EAST CENTRAL ST. L MN   TRAINED SPOTTER 

       TWO FOOT DIAMETER TREE BLOWN DOWN


PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TWIN CITIES/CHANHASSEN MN
624 PM CDT WED APR 28 2004

..TIME...   ...EVENT...     ...CITY LOCATION...      ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....     ..COUNTY LOCATION...ST.. ...SOURCE....
                        ..REMARKS..

0525 PM     TSTM WND GST     6 N LASTRUP             46.13N 94.06W 
04/28/2004  68 MPH           MORRISON           MN   MESONET         

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URL: http://climate.umn.edu/doc/journal/heat040428.htm
Last modified: April 29, 2004