Southerly breezes on the backside of high pressure brought record warm temperatures across the Upper Midwest on February 3rd and 4th 2005. The Minnesota record maximum temperature for February 4th was tied with preliminary readings of 61 degrees at Marshall and Pipestone. The old record is 61 degrees at Browns Valley in 1991. As of 4pm, the Twin Cities had a new record high of 51 degrees, breaking the old record of 49 set in 1925 and in 1990.

The warm temperatures have eroded the snow pack to the southwestern suburbs of the Twin Cities. Southwest and west central Minnesota are virtually snow free. A cold front was draped over northwest Minnesota with some very chilly air behind it. While it was 46 degrees at 4pm February 4th at Alexandria, it was only 14 at Hallock.

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URL: http://climate.umn.edu/doc/journal/warm0502.htm
Last modified: February 4, 2005