EDEN PRAIRIE, Minn – As the Twin Cities reached a record temperature of 70 degrees in early March, many Minnesotans rejoiced the end of the snow blower season.
“Love it or hate it, welcome to the new Minnesota winter,” said Paul Douglas, Twin Cities meteorologist and founder of Aeris Weather in Eden Prairie.
“What most of us think of as winter, heavy jackets, trudging through slush, that’s history, we are still are going to still see a few minor relapses, maybe a little bit of slush, a few days in the 30s,” said Douglas, “But we had half a winter this year.”
Why? Douglas said Minnesota is symptomatic of larger warming trends, warming three degrees higher in the past, bringing more volatile weather patterns.
He noted a typical Minnesota winter has 23 subzero nights in the Twin Cities, while this winter has seen 10 subzero nights. Snowfall normally is around 54 inches in a typical winter compared to this winter’s snowfall at 30 to 31 inches.
“I tell people, my opinion, we are still going to have old fashioned pioneer winters like we had in the 1970s, but there are going to become increasingly rare, what is going to be more typical, is shorter slushier winters, fewer subzero nights,” said Douglas.
On March 8th two winters ago, Minnesota had 16 inches of snow on the ground, compared to today, when people brought out shorts and flip flops. A pattern Douglas calls weather whiplash, something he said he once doubted years ago but is now convinced after studying decades of data.
“The stuff the climate scientists were predicting 30 years ago is happening. It’s not a theory, you don’t have to like it, but can we acknowledge it’s not your grandfather’s weather? Something has changed. Something fundamental has changed,” said Douglas.
Douglas warns it’s not an entirely bleak outlook and said Minnesota will fare changes in weather better than other states experiencing drought or changes in sea level.
“It’s more of a low grade migraine we are going to have to figure out, there will be benefits and there will be threats, but I’m still confident we are going to figure things out,” said Douglas.
It’s why in Minneapolis' North Loop, entrepreneur Eric Dayton pushes the climate conversation forward at his men’s store, Askov Finlayson with the sale of the popular “North” hats.
The business’ new "Keep The North Cold" campaign donates a portion of the store’s “North” hats and clothing sales to polar explorer Will Steger's non-profit organization, Climate Generation, educating young students about climate change.
“This is an important part of our identity, our state, or heritage, I just took my son this past weekend to skating outdoors, I want to make sure he can do that with his son and so on and so on, so we don't lose that,” said Dayton. “It really feels like we are the natural place to be a leader on this, sort of self-preservation, to lead a cause the whole world needs to rally behind.”
Douglas said warming trends will put stress on agriculture, wetlands, lakes, invasive species, and pest control, but to him, it’s more motivation, especially looking toward the next generation, to make sure the region’s subzero history finds an above average solution.
“For many Minnesotans, we are losing something that’s intrinsic, part of our heritage and history and that is deeply troubling,” said Douglas. “But, I'm still optimistic, I think it's our kids that will clean up our parents’ messes.”