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How often do temperatures in the Twin Cities drop below zero?

Are winters in Minnesota getting colder?
Are winters in Minnesota getting colder? 02:35

MINNEAPOLIS — Sunshine, sturdy ice and a day off from school were the perfect recipe to overpower some of Mother Nature's coldest air this season. 

Several teenagers hit the ice on Lake of the Isles on Monday despite a high temperature that was around -7 degrees.

"I guess I just like playing hockey," said Liam Brink of Minneapolis as he laced up his skates with a group of friends. "We should just head out and do something free and fun."

Weathering consecutive days below zero is like a Minnesota rite of passage.

"I've heard my parents talk about how it gets even like colder and way bigger snowstorms," said Brink.

Those words are echoed by Kenny Blumenfeld, a senior climatologist with the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. 

"A lot of people who are around now haven't experienced the kind of cold that used to be much more common in Minnesota," Blumenfeld said.

Is it as cold as it used to be? The quick answer is no, is it not as warm as decades ago, but Blumenfeld offered context.

"Sometimes it will get really cold, and we'll be similar to the kinds of cold that we had historically, but the truth is we don't get to the levels of cold that used to be more common," he said.

That means not hitting 20 degrees below zero in southern Minnesota or 30 degrees below zero in northern Minnesota as frequently as decades past.

"We kind of joke that here in the Twin Cities and southern Minnesota, -15 degrees is the new negative -25 degrees," Blumenfeld said.

From 1991 to 2020, the Twin Cities averaged 22 days a year when the temperature dropped below zero. In the four years that followed, the average was about 15 days.

"If we continue having a lack of those sorts of days this decade then those numbers would probably get adjusted downward a bit," he said.

Why is it not as cold as it used to be? Blumenfeld points to a few factors, one of which being urbanization. Building more neighborhoods, businesses, and roads connecting them all better retain heat. 

"It's also that the entire atmosphere around the globe is getting warmer because we have more greenhouse gases in the air. And that is basically reducing the amount of cold air that's available at any given time," he said. 

Less cold air means less snow cover, which in turn makes the temperature warmer.

WCCO doesn't want to diminish the cold that swept through. It definitely was dangerous. But for perspective, hitting -15 degrees isn't exactly something to write home about. 

"That would be the 752nd coldest day on record in the Twin Cities," Blumenfeld said.

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