In a flip-flop from August, September was much warmer than normal much to the delight of farmers and many people who thought that summer ended too soon. 80 degree temperatures which were so sparse in August were plentiful in September. The Twin Cities saw the mercury crack the 80 degree mark 13 times during September. September 2004 also marked only the second time where September was warmer than August in the Twin Cities. September, 2004 had an average temperature of 67.4. while August was 66.3 degrees, The only other time this occurred was in 1897. September was also warmer than August at International Falls and Duluth.

As September ended, much cooler air rushed in the state behind a powerful cold front to kick off October. Snowflakes were reported on the north end of Lake of the Woods during the morning of October 1.

Listed below are statements from the National Weather Service about the warm September.

PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TWIN CITIES/CHANHASSEN MN
755 AM CDT FRI OCT 01 2004
...NEAR RECORD WARM SEPTEMBER ALL BUT IN THE BOOKS...

HERE ARE THE FINAL NUMBERS FOR THE VERY WARM SEPTEMBER EXPERIENCED
ACROSS A LARGE SWATH OF THE UPPER MIDWEST.
IT WAS THE WARMEST SEPTEMBER IN THE LAST 57 YEARS AT MINNEAPOLIS AND 
ST. CLOUD.  OVERALL...IT WAS THE 6TH WARMEST SEPTEMBER IN MINNEAPOLIS BACK TO 1891...
THE 9TH WARMEST IN ST. CLOUD BACK TO 
1881...AND THE 2ND WARMEST IN EAU CLAIRE BACK TO 1949.

EVEN MORE INTERESTING...THE MONTHLY AVERAGE TEMPERATURE IN ALL THREE 
CITIES FOR SEPTEMBER WAS WARMER THAN THE AVERAGE MONTHLY TEMPERATURE FOR AUGUST 2004
WHICH WAS ONE OF THE COLDEST AUGUSTS ON RECORD. IN TWIN CITIES...
THIS RARE FEAT HAS HAPPENED ONLY ONCE BEFORE...IN 1897.
AT THE MINNEAPOLIS INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT...THE AVERAGE MONTHLY 
TEMPERATURE FOR SEPTEMBER WAS 67.4 DEGREES. THIS WAS 6.4 DEGREES ABOVE NORMAL.

HERE ARE THE TOP 10 WARMEST SEPTEMBERS EVER FOR MINNEAPOLIS
 BACK TO 1891...AND WHERE SEPTEMBER 2004 STANDS.
RANK      HIGHEST AVG TEMP        YEAR
1.            68.8               1897
2.            68.7               1931
3.            68.0               1908
4.            67.9               1948
5.            67.7               1891
6.            67.4               2004***
6.            67.4               1933 
7.            67.3               1978
8.            66.7               1936
9.            66.6               1998
 
CLIMATE DATA USED FOR THIS REPORT FOR MINNEAPOLIS GOES BACK 114 YEARS.

AT THE ST. CLOUD AIRPORT...THE AVERAGE TEMPERATURE FOR SEPTEMBER 
WAS 64.1 DEGREES. THIS IS 7.0 DEGREES ABOVE NORMAL.
HERE ARE THE TOP 10 WARMEST SEPTEMBERS EVER FOR ST. CLOUD BACK 
TO 1881...AND WHERE SEPTEMBER 2004 STANDS.

RANK      HIGHEST AVG TEMP        YEAR
1.            66.5               1931
2.            65.8               1908
3.            65.1               1891
4.            64.8               1933
5.            64.7               1920
6.            64.4               1906 
7.            64.3               1897
8.            64.2               1948
9.            64.1               2004***
10.            63.4               1936
CLIMATE DATA USED FOR THIS REPORT FOR ST. CLOUD GOES BACK 122 YEARS.

DATA FROM 1881-1903 COURTESY OF DR. BOB WEISMAN 
(ST. CLOUD STATE UNIVERSITY). HTTP://WEB.STCLOUDSTATE.EDU/RAWEISMAN/INDEX.HTML
AT THE EAU CLAIRE AIRPORT...THE AVERAGE MONTHLY TEMPERATURE WAS 
65.0 DEGREES. THIS IS 5.6 DEGREES ABOVE NORMAL.

HERE ARE THE TOP 10 WARMEST SEPTEMBERS BACK TO 1949 FOR EAU CLAIRE...
AND WHERE SEPTEMBER 2004 STANDS.
RANK      HIGHEST AVG TEMP        YEAR
1.            65.6               1998
2.            65.0               2004***
3.            64.3               1978
4.            63.7               2002
5.            63.3               1994
6.            62.5               1990
7.            61.4               1997
8.            61.3               1983
9.            61.0               1971
10.            60.8               1979/1969

CLIMATE DATA USED FOR THIS REPORT FOR EAU CLAIRE GOES BACK 56 YEARS.



RECORD EVENT REPORT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DULUTH MN
130 AM CDT FRI OCT 1 2004
...SEPTEMBER ENDS WARMER AND WETTER THAN AUGUST AT DULUTH 
AND INTERNATIONAL FALLS...  

FOR THE FIRST TIME ON RECORD AT DULUTH AND INTERNATIONAL FALLS...
SEPTEMBER WAS WARMER THAN ITS PRECEDING AUGUST.  DULUTH FINISHED 
0.2 DEGREES WARMER THAN LAST AUGUST...WHILE INTERNATIONAL FALLS 
CAME IN 2.5 DEGREES WARMER THAN AUGUST 2004...WHICH WAS THE 
COLDEST AUGUST ON RECORD. DULUTH CLOSED OUT SEPTEMBER WITH AN 
AVERAGE TEMPERATURE OF 59.1 DEGREES...WHICH WAS 4.4 DEGREES 
ABOVE NORMAL FOR THE MONTH.  
SEPTEMBER 2004 RANKED AS THE 3RD WARMEST IN THE AIRPORT RECORDS...
BUT MISSED RANKING IN THE TOP TEN OF THE ALL TIME RECORD.  
PRECIPITATION WAS JUST 0.18 INCHES ABOVE NORMAL...WITH A MONTHLY 
TOTAL OF 4.31 INCHES.    

AT INTERNATIONAL FALLS...THE SEPTEMBER AVERAGE TEMPERATURE WAS 
58.5 DEGREES...WHICH IS 5.3 DEGREES ABOVE NORMAL.  SEPTEMBER TIES
 1948 AS THE 4TH WARMEST SEPTEMBER ON RECORD AT INTERNATIONAL FALLS.
  THIS MONTH ALSO MAKES THE RECORD BOOKS FOR THE 5TH WETTEST 
SEPTEMBER AT INTERNATIONAL FALLS.  THERE WERE 6.01 INCHES OF 
RAINFALL THIS MONTH...WHICH IS 2.98 INCHES ABOVE NORMAL.
DULUTH REACHED THE 80S 4 TIMES THIS MONTH...WITH THE HIGH 
TEMPERATURE BEING 83 DEGREES.  THE 80S WERE SEEN 3 TIMES AT 
INTERNATIONAL FALLS...WITH A HIGH TEMPERATURE THIS MONTH OF 
85 DEGREES. 
THE FIRST WIDESPREAD FROST IN THE NORTHLAND OCCURRED OVERNIGHT 
SEPTEMBER 27TH...AND INTO THE MORNING OF THE 28TH.  
INTERNATIONAL FALLS SAW THE 20S TWICE THIS SEPTEMBER...
WHILE DULUTH'S LOWEST RECORDED TEMPERATURE WAS 36 DEGREES.  
***DAILY RECORDS SET IN SEPTEMBER 2004***
FOR DULUTH...
RECORD DAILY RAINFALL OF 1.52 INCHES FELL ON SEPTEMBER 5TH

FOR INTERNATIONAL FALLS...
RECORD DAILY RAINFALL OF 1.5 INCHES FELL ON SEPTEMBER 15TH
RECORD DAILY RAINFALL OF 0.47 INCHES FELL ON SEPTEMBER 23TH

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Last modified: October 1, 2004