Thanksgiving Day Climatology in the Twin Cities: 1872-2012
Turkey Race - 1955
Courtesy: Minnesota Historical Society
Having a mild day in the 50's on Thanksgiving Day is relatively rare, looking at the historical record back to 1872. A maximum of 50 or more has happened only eleven times in 141 years, or about once every 14 years or so. The warmest Thanksgiving Day is a tie of 62 degrees set in 1914 and 1922. The mildest recent Thanksgiving Day is 60 degrees just last year on November 22, 2012. This tied 1939 as the third warmest Thanksgiving back to 1872 for the Twin Cities.
On the other side of the spectrum, it is common to have a high temperature below 32. The average Thanksgiving Day temperature is right around freezing. What about extremely cold Thanksgivings? Looking at the past 141 years, it is a little more likely to have a minimum at or below zero on Thanksgiving Day, as it is to have a maximum of 50 or above. Below-zero lows have occurred nine times in the past 141 years. The coldest Thanksgiving Day minimum temperature was 18 degrees below zero on November 25, 1880. The coldest high temperature was one below zero on November 28, 1872. The last time it was below zero on the morning of Thanksgiving was in 1985, with eight below zero.
Measurable snow fell on 27 of the past Thanksgivings back to 1884, about every five years or so. The most snow that fell on Thanksgiving was five inches in 1970. The last time there was measurable snow on Thanksgiving was just last year with .1 (one tenth of an inch) of snow.
Historically, about one in three Thanksgivings have at least one inch of snow on the ground. The deepest snow pack is a tie with 1921 and 1983, both with 10 inches on the ground by Turkey Day.
It occasionally rains on Thanksgiving Day as well. In 1896, a two-day event in the Twin Cities doused Thanksgiving travelers with nearly three inches of rain.
Last Thanksgiving was even rarer than most, producing a balmy 60 degree high during the day and a chilly accumulation of 0.1 inches of snow that night. Thanksgiving weather like this has not been seen in 141 years.
Year by year climatology for Thanksgiving Day for the Twin Cities 1872-2012 Year Month Day High Low precip snow snow depth 1872 11 28 -1 -13 0.00 M M 1873 11 27 21 2 0.00 M M 1874 11 26 31 9 .14 M M 1875 11 25 33 26 0.00 M M 1876 11 30 15 1 0.00 M M 1877 11 24 43 33 0.00 M M 1878 11 28 42 21 0.00 M M 1879 11 27 34 29 0.01 M M 1880 11 25 13 -18 0.00 M M 1881 11 24 22 2 0.00 M M 1882 11 30 32 17 0.00 M M 1883 11 29 38 18 0.00 M M 1884 11 27 20 14 0.01 T M 1885 11 25 42 19 T 0.0 M 1886 11 25 15 8 T T M 1887 11 24 29 24 0.14 1.4 M 1888 11 29 33 29 T T M 1889 11 28 20 11 .01 .1 M 1890 11 27 37 22 0.00 0.0 M 1891 11 26 26 13 T T M 1892 11 24 26 6 0.00 0.0 M 1893 11 30 12 -8 0.07 0.8 M 1894 11 29 30 12 0.00 0.0 M 1895 11 28 37 27 T 0.0 M 1896 11 26 49 30 1.76 0.0 M 1897 11 25 31 22 0.05 0.7 M 1898 11 24 12 -7 0.00 0.0 M 1899 11 30 41 32 0.01 0.0 0 1900 11 29 35 15 0.00 0.0 2 1901 11 28 48 23 0.00 0.0 0 1902 11 27 34 19 T T T 1903 11 26 18 0 0.00 0.0 T 1904 11 24 38 32 0.00 0.0 0 1905 11 30 16 -8 0.00 0.0 5 1906 11 29 39 26 0.04 T 0 1907 11 28 35 23 0.00 0.0 0 1908 11 26 36 26 T T T 1909 11 25 39 34 0.00 0.0 T 1910 11 24 46 29 0.00 0.0 0 1911 11 30 37 20 0.00 0.0 4 1912 11 28 42 16 0.00 0.0 T 1913 11 27 43 37 0.01 0.0 0 1914 11 26 62 31 0.00 0.0 0 1915 11 25 45 34 0.00 0.0 T 1916 11 30 42 24 0.00 0.0 0 1917 11 29 36 27 T 0.0 T 1918 11 28 37 28 T 0.5 1 1919 11 27 13 5 0.05 1.2 2 1920 11 25 32 30 T T T 1921 11 24 24 17 0.00 T 10 1922 11 30 62 24 0.44 0.0 0 1923 11 29 46 29 0.00 0.0 0 1924 11 27 28 17 0.01 0.1 T 1925 11 26 39 16 0.00 0.0 0 1926 11 25 36 27 0.08 0.0 1 1927 11 24 40 26 0.00 0.0 1 1928 11 29 30 22 T T 0 1929 11 28 12 -4 T T T 1930 11 27 7 -3 T T 3 1931 11 26 31 17 0.02 0.0 0 1932 11 24 50 21 0.00 0.0 0 1933 11 30 47 28 0.00 0.0 0 1934 11 29 32 28 0.00 0.0 0 1935 11 28 19 8 0.04 0.6 1 1936 11 26 19 16 T 1.5 1 1937 11 25 43 35 T 0.0 0 1938 11 24 19 7 T T 0 1939* 11 30 60 24 0.00 0.0 0 1940 11 21 34 28 0.28 T T 1941 11 20 34 24 T T 0 1942 11 26 22 12 T 0.2 1 1943 11 25 36 28 T 0.0 0 1944 11 23 35 31 0.02 0.2 0 1945 11 22 21 14 0.06 1.2 1 1946 11 28 38 17 0.00 0.0 0 1947 11 27 20 5 0.03 1.2 7 1948 11 25 39 32 0.05 0.4 0 1949 11 24 27 23 T T 1 1950 11 23 16 -5 0.02 0.2 2 1951 11 22 24 11 0.00 0.0 0 1952 11 27 14 4 T T 9 1953 11 26 31 20 T T 0 1954 11 25 30 23 0.00 0.0 0 1955 11 24 31 7 0.00 0.0 1 1956 11 22 17 8 0.00 0.0 3 1957 11 28 29 21 T 0.0 1 1958 11 27 18 2 T T 0 1959 11 26 26 11 0.00 0.0 0 1960 11 24 45 28 0.00 0.0 0 1961 11 23 39 24 T T 0 1962 11 22 33 20 T 0.0 0 1963 11 28 48 28 T T 0 1964 11 26 23 7 T T 1 1965 11 25 37 28 0.01 T 0 1966 11 24 42 32 0.06 0.0 0 1967 11 23 39 16 T T 0 1968 11 28 35 20 0.00 0.0 0 1969 11 27 26 17 0.00 T 0 1970 11 26 32 12 0.31 5.0 1 1971 11 25 33 30 0.22 2.6 3 1972 11 23 38 16 0.00 0.0 0 1973 11 22 45 27 0.00 0.0 0 1974 11 28 27 15 T T 0 1975 11 27 28 12 0.00 0.0 4 1976 11 25 42 29 0.09 0.7 0 1977 11 24 16 6 0.13 1.7 3 1978 11 23 28 24 0.05 0.9 8 1979 11 22 35 33 0.16 1.5 2 1980 11 27 40 22 0.00 0.0 0 1981 11 26 37 31 0.16 0.9 3 1982 11 25 36 19 T T 0 1983 11 24 25 14 T T 10 1984 11 22 40 21 0.00 0.0 0 1985 11 28 11 -8 0.08 2.2 5 1986 11 27 47 24 0.00 0.0 0 1987 11 26 32 26 0.00 T 0 1988 11 24 52 35 0.00 0.0 0 1989 11 23 18 2 0.01 0.1 5 1990 11 22 50 27 0.00 0.0 0 1991 11 28 23 10 0.00 0.0 6 1992 11 26 34 22 T T 0 1993 11 25 33 20 0.45 4.3 2 1994 11 24 48 28 0.00 0.0 0 1995 11 23 20 9 0.00 0.0 0 1996 11 28 31 17 0.00 0.0 9 1997 11 27 45 29 0.00 0.0 1 1998 11 26 58 28 0.00 0.0 0 1999 11 25 47 30 0.00 0.0 0 2000 11 23 29 16 0.00 0.0 1 2001 11 22 55 36 0.00 0.0 0 2002 11 28 45 19 0.00 0.0 0 2003 11 27 33 24 0.04 0.0 4 2004 11 25 34 22 T T T 2005 11 24 21 11 0.00 0.0 0 2006 11 23 54 29 0.00 0.0 0 2007 11 22 29 16 T 0.2 T 2008 11 27 42 22 0.00 0.0 0 2009 11 26 36 27 0.00 0.0 0 2010 11 25 27 6 T T 1 2011 11 24 59 36 0.00 0.0 0 2012 11 22 60 24 0.02 0.1 0
*Note, it appears as though Minnesota, having Republican Harold Stassen as Governor, did not follow Democrat Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s Proclamation to have Thanksgiving on the third Thursday in November in 1939. That year Minnesota celebrated Thanksgiving on November 30. The Governor seemed to have a change of heart for the next two years and went with Roosevelt’s recommendation and had Thanksgiving on November 21 in 1940 and November 20 in 1941.
The U.S. Congress in 1941 established that the Thanksgiving would occur annually on the fourth Thursday of November, which is sometimes the last Thursday and sometimes the next to last. On November 26, 1941 President Roosevelt signed this bill into U.S. law. This is when the holiday is still observed today.