# Is Minnesota really that cold? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [March 6, 2019, 6:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-minnesota-really-that-cold/830617 "2019-03-06T06:22:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Daylate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9dc877/32.png) [@Daylate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Daylate)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2019, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-minnesota-really-that-cold/830617/21 "2019-03-08T04:30:49Z")
Years ago I was sent to Hibbings, Minn. as engineer on a bridge job. It was sort of an emergency, so I went out to the job site as soon as I arrived in town and got settled in. This was at around midnight, on August 1st. What impressed me was the skim if ice on the surface of puddles in the parking lot. Temperature was 30° F. On August first! Was real glad to get out of there a month or so later. Had no desire at all to experience a Minnesota winter. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2019, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-minnesota-really-that-cold/830617/22 "2019-03-08T04:44:56Z")
Maybe I should have given this thread a different title. I was taking a poke at the person who thought the MyPillow guy cutout was real. I never expected a serious discussion about Minnesota’s weather. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2019, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-minnesota-really-that-cold/830617/23 "2019-03-09T04:54:35Z")
And while lots of Americans are starting to see a peek of Spring, in Minnesota this weekend: > [@](#): > > While snow tapers off during the day in the High Plains, heavy snow will persist across the Dakotas and spread over much of Minnesota and Wisconsin from west to east. Airline delays can start ramping up at Minneapolis area airports on Saturday afternoon as heavy snow and gusty winds start battering the region. “During Saturday night to Sunday morning, the storm will likely be at its strongest with windswept snow from the Dakotas and northern Nebraska to much of Minnesota, northern Wisconsin and part of northern Michigan,” Sosnowski said. “Strengthening winds will greatly lower the visibility and cause extensive blowing and drifting snow, especially at the tail end of the storm and even as the sky begins to clear.” Wind gusts can exceed 50 mph, threatening to topple high-profile vehicles and leading to power outages and property damage. These winds will also limit the effectiveness of snow plowing, since new drifts can quickly obscure roadways. Travel will be extremely dangerous through Saturday night as a result, with closures possible on long stretches of Interstates 90, 29 and 94. [https://www.accuweather.com/en/weather-news/weekend-blizzard-to-create-dangerous-travel-along-i-90-i-94-and-i-29-in-midwest/70007631](https://www.accuweather.com/en/weather-news/weekend-blizzard-to-create-dangerous-travel-along-i-90-i-94-and-i-29-in-midwest/70007631) ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2019, 5:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-minnesota-really-that-cold/830617/24 "2019-03-09T05:48:03Z")
don’t you come at me with your bad juju pasttense, i have places to go this weekend ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2019, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-minnesota-really-that-cold/830617/25 "2019-03-09T20:31:28Z")
> [@Hampshire](#): > > This winter has been especially brutal. We’ve cycled between record low temps and record snowfalls. So it’s either below zero or when it warms up into the teens we get dumped on with more snow. You know what is worse than that? It is alternating snow, rain, then freeze. Everything turns to ice. There is a 4" layer of ice in my driveway in Montreal. ---
**Author:** ![Mighty\_Mouse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mighty_mouse/32/7776_2.png) [@Mighty\_Mouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mighty_Mouse)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2019, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-minnesota-really-that-cold/830617/26 "2019-03-10T01:46:11Z")
In January 1992, I had a job interview with the Farm Credit Administration in Bloomington MN. I walked out of the airport in a business suit and what passes for a winter coat in Virginia. It took only about five minutes to get into the car they had sent to pick me up. But I had decided in those five minutes I wouldn’t take the job even if it was the only offer I had at graduation. ---
**Author:** ![Napier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce73a5/32.png) [@Napier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Napier)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2019, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-minnesota-really-that-cold/830617/27 "2019-03-10T04:11:28Z")
I heard that during the recent Polar Vortex extremes, people in Minnesota were talking about moving someplace warm, like Michigan. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2019, 5:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-minnesota-really-that-cold/830617/28 "2019-03-10T05:16:47Z")
Yeah, family in Minnesota, I grew up in Wisconsin. So I’ve had over sixty frigid winters. This one is by far the worst. The real problem isn’t the multi-car pile ups on glare ice, or trying to shovel when you have nowhere to put the snow because the drifts are taller than your fences. No, the real problem this year is the way the cold has sapped our will to live. I keep telling myself not to make any decisions while stressed, and that I’ll be stressed until spring. So no decisions like “Do I want to keep living if it’s in a drafty house?” or “Would a nice warm prison cell be worth going on a bloody rampage with a sharpened windshield scraper?” ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2019, 6:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-minnesota-really-that-cold/830617/29 "2019-03-10T06:39:20Z")
We had a “Naked Gun” cardboard-cutout movie-promotion guy in our hallway when I lived in a shared house. Only 3/4 size, but then that hallway didn’t give good cues for height anyway. And _every time_ I saw that guy standing holding a gun in the half-dark hallway I nearly called the cops. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2019, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-minnesota-really-that-cold/830617/30 "2019-03-20T02:11:39Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > It’s supposed to warm up this weekend (up to +30[sup]o[/sup]F), and also drop up to 12 inches of heavy, wet snow, plus another storm next week. > > Stoicism is one thing - masochism is another. > > Regards, > Shodan We had 18" of snow over three days here in Eugene OR, late last month. I was surprised by (a) how much damage there was to power lines, flat roofs, and trees; (b) how paralyzed the town was for several days (though we rarely get this much snow so we’re not used to it); and (c) how long it stayed on the ground despite temps mostly above freezing. Item (c), however, made a lot more sense to me when I considered how long it would take a frozen steak to thaw if I left it outside in that weather. A good thick steak takes hours to defrost inside a warm house. So I’m kind of having a difficult time wrapping my mind around the concept of having that much snow throughout the winter. ---
**Author:** ![ITR\_champion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c67d28/32.png) [@ITR\_champion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ITR_champion)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2019, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-minnesota-really-that-cold/830617/31 "2019-03-20T02:37:12Z")
“Is Minnesota really that cold?” Not as cold as North Dakota. ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2019, 5:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-minnesota-really-that-cold/830617/32 "2019-03-20T05:16:16Z")
Yes. Yes it is. ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2019, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-minnesota-really-that-cold/830617/33 "2019-05-10T01:09:32Z")
If you want to talk about snow instead: > [@](#): > > May 9, 2019, While the calendar shows it’s more than six weeks into spring, Mother Nature dealt a wintry blow to Minnesota with a winter-like storm that unleashed historic snow amounts in some locations on Wednesday into Thursday. > > Snow fell along a zone from Sioux Falls, South Dakota, to Duluth, Minnesota… Through Thursday morning, Duluth was blanketed with 10.9 inches of snow, leading to a number of broken snowfall records, according to data from the National Weather Service. One spot just southwest of Duluth reported 12 inches of snow as of Thursday afternoon. [https://www.accuweather.com/en/weather-news/photos-may-storm-brings-heavy-snow-slippery-travel-to-minnesota/70008224](https://www.accuweather.com/en/weather-news/photos-may-storm-brings-heavy-snow-slippery-travel-to-minnesota/70008224) ---
**Author:** ![VOW](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/vow/32/3043_2.png) [@VOW](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VOW)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2019, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-minnesota-really-that-cold/830617/34 "2019-05-10T12:54:24Z")
It’s not just the cold, it’s the freakin’ wind that comes straight down from the North Pole. Minnesota and thereabouts you’ll hear a LOT of talk about “windchill factor,” so pay attention! You can be bundled up in every stitch of clothing you have ever owned, and the wind comes roaring down blowing powder snow like needles in your flesh. And all those clothes wrapped around your body are not there any more. The wind penetrates through every layer, slices through skin and muscle and fat, and drives deep into your bones. Your bone marrow freezes solid. ~VOW ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2019, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-minnesota-really-that-cold/830617/35 "2019-05-10T13:30:21Z")
> [@PastTense](#): > > If you want to talk about snow instead: No, I don’t. On NPR this morning, they were talking about the times it snowed in June in Minnesota. Freaking **June**. I couldn’t change the station fast enough to avoid hearing what they were saying to reassure me - that it only happened during the first five days. OF FREAKING JUNE! Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![TRC4941](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trc4941/32/6792_2.png) [@TRC4941](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TRC4941)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2019, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-minnesota-really-that-cold/830617/36 "2019-05-10T14:34:42Z")
I just lived through the “delightful” May snowfall. We had 9" of snow by Thursday morning. By that afternoon it was 55 degrees. UGH ---
**Author:** ![Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e19adc/32.png) [@Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2019, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-minnesota-really-that-cold/830617/37 "2019-05-10T16:44:22Z")
I spent one Christmas in Minneapolis and MrsB and I decided to go for a stroll. It was a legit -40 outside. ---
**Author:** ![Kimballkid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b5a626/32.png) [@Kimballkid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimballkid)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2019, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-minnesota-really-that-cold/830617/38 "2019-05-10T21:08:33Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > No, I don’t. > > On NPR this morning, they were talking about the times it snowed in June in Minnesota. Freaking **June**. I couldn’t change the station fast enough to avoid hearing what they were saying to reassure me - that it only happened during the first five days. > > OF FREAKING JUNE! > > Regards, > Shodan My mom told me that one time when she was a kid it snowed on the Fourth of July when they were setting up for a picnic. She said it didn’t last long though. That was in South Dakota though, not Minnesota. ---
**Author:** ![Hampshire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hampshire/32/4887_2.png) [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2019, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-minnesota-really-that-cold/830617/39 "2019-05-10T21:09:37Z")
> [@VOW](#): > > It’s not just the cold, it’s the freakin’ wind that comes straight down from the North Pole. Minnesota and thereabouts you’ll hear a LOT of talk about “windchill factor,” so pay attention! > > You can be bundled up in every stitch of clothing you have ever owned, and the wind comes roaring down blowing powder snow like needles in your flesh. And all those clothes wrapped around your body are not there any more. The wind penetrates through every layer, slices through skin and muscle and fat, and drives deep into your bones. Your bone marrow freezes solid. > ~VOW Yep, the -30 is tolerable if it is still outside. However, if it’s -5 outside and the wind is 30mph it feels like a constant blast of ice water in the face. Instantly numb and you can’t catch your breath. ---
**Author:** ![Bookkeeper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bookkeeper/32/281_2.png) [@Bookkeeper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bookkeeper)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2019, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-minnesota-really-that-cold/830617/40 "2019-05-12T16:34:37Z")
> [@VOW](#): > > It’s not just the cold, it’s the freakin’ wind that comes straight down from the North Pole. Minnesota and thereabouts you’ll hear a LOT of talk about “windchill factor,” so pay attention! > > You can be bundled up in every stitch of clothing you have ever owned, and the wind comes roaring down blowing powder snow like needles in your flesh. And all those clothes wrapped around your body are not there any more. The wind penetrates through every layer, slices through skin and muscle and fat, and drives deep into your bones. Your bone marrow freezes solid. > ~VOW A lazy wind. Too lazy to go around you, so it blows right through you. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-minnesota-really-that-cold/830617.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-minnesota-really-that-cold/830617.md?page=3)