When Is The Latest Date It Has Ever Snowed in Minnesota?
Sure, we enjoyed a few really nice, warm days last weekend. But as we all know, we're never quite sure when winter is over here in Minnesota. So when's the latest it HAS snowed?
With our near-record-setting winter seemingly behind us, we're all thinking spring might have finally sprung, right? I mean, it was in the 80's Sunday! But I did a little digging to find out the latest recorded date snow has ever fallen here in Minnesota. And you're probably not going to like what I found.
I vividly remember that freak snowstorm of May 2nd, 2013 that ended up dumping over 14 inches of snow on us here in Rochester. I was working at KTTC-TV at the time and was heading in at about 5 a.m. to help with the storm coverage. The snow was falling so fast and furious at that point that my all-wheel-drive SUV barely made it to the station without getting stuck. (There were a couple of time along West Circle Drive I thought I was a goner!)
But while snow in May in Minnesota is rare, that's not the latest date snow's ever been recorded here in the Land of 10,000 Lakes. According to this Minnesota DNR story from the State Climatology Group, it's snowed here in the North Star State even later in the year than that.
Try June and August. That's right. Snow. In Minnesota. In the middle of the summer!?!
While the story notes there have been many tall tales about Minnesotans witnessing freak snowfalls up north near Ely or Brainerd on the 4th of July, none of those stories have ever been actually confirmed.
But there HAVE been summer snows validated by verifiable authorities here in Minnesota. "As it stands right now the latest recorded measurable snow in Minnesota remains at 1.5 inches at Mizpah in Koochiching County on June 4, 1935 and the earliest documented snow in Minnesota is a trace that fell at the Duluth Airport on August 31, 1949," the story concluded.
So, yeah, that's not what we wanted to hear, right? I don't want to deal with any more snow here in April, let along June or August! But don't put away those shovels yet, I guess...