St. Cloud’s Warmest Winter on Record Sets Stage for More of the Same in the Spring

(KNSI) – The winter of 2023-24 is the warmest on record in St. Cloud, and the heat is expected to continue as March marks the start of Meteorological spring.

Experts say the blistering temperatures were fueled by a weather pattern from the Pacific called El Niño. “Usually, with the El Niño winters up here, we tend to be drier and warmer than normal. That certainly turned out to be the case for the season,” said National Weather Service Meteorologist Melissa Dye.

She told KNSI News that December, January, and February’s temperatures were historic. “The number we were looking to beat for St. Cloud, for average temperature was 23.4 degrees. And that was back in the winter of 2001 to 2002. So far, we’re looking at coming in probably about three to four degrees above that for this winter.”

It will take a few more days before statewide data is gathered and analyzed, but Dye expects we will end with a winter average temperature of around 27 degrees.

December had an average of 32.1 degrees and February of 30.5 degrees, both new records for St. Cloud. January’s average was 19.4 degrees, which is normal.

The weather made for very few snowflakes due to the unseasonable temperatures. The Granite City saw 11 inches of the white stuff over the three months. St. Cloud averages 27 inches in December, January and February.

So what does this mean for the next three months? Dye says to expect more of the same. “It still looks like we’re leaning towards above normal [temperatures], maybe not quite as strong of a signal, but certainly still possible.”

She says the outlook from the Climate Prediction Center shows we have a 50/50 chance of a wetter-than-normal spring, which could help elevate drought and wildfire conditions.

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