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Sven Explains: Alaska beat us to 70 degrees

Minnesota is normally much warmer than Alaska- especially in the month of March but things have been a bit odd as of late.

Minnesota is normally much warmer than Alaska.

Especially in the month of March, but things have been a bit odd as of late. 

For about the last 7 weeks, we've been pretty cold while Alaska and much of the Arctic and Siberia have been WAY warmer than normal.

They've been so warm that the Bering Strait is open water. That's record low sea ice. 

By this point in the season, the area between Russia and Alaska should be all ice.

That pattern allowed Klawock, Alaska to hit 70 degrees this past Tuesday- the earliest ever 70 in a season for the state. 

The previous record was March 31, 2016. The arctic has been warming at 2 to 4 times the rate of the rest of the plane,t and this season once again has put Alaska into record warm territory.

The good news for Minnesota is that this pattern that's been persistent since late January is breaking down, and  we will finally see more warmth ahead.

More from Sven Explains:

Sven Explains: Plastic pollution 

Sven Explains: Differences in degrees can change snow totals

Sven Explains: Snowmelt

 

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