Above normal temps on tap for region

I first started at the Bemidji (Minn.) Pioneer as an intern in the summer of 1996. That would begin six years as a news reporter, sports reporter and copy editor for a small, six-day-per-week daily newspaper in northern Minnesota. I wrote a large range of stories from multiple beats, to features to sports, my favorite being the coverage of the Red Lake Reservation High School basketball team named the Warriors. Here is a collection of my stories from my time at the Pioneer.

Dec. 1, 1999

By Devlyn Brooks

Abnormally high temperatures in northern Minnesota will continue until the weekend, according to a National Weather Service official, following closely on the heels of a record-setting month of November.

NWS senior meteorologist Greg Gust said temperatures could reach 40 degrees today and hover in the mid-30s until Friday, and there is little chance of snow until Friday as well.

Northern Minnesota should cool on Saturday to the high 20s and low 30s, but should warm up Monday.

Gust said that a low pressure storm forming over Colorado will push its way across the Southern Plains today and Thursday, but little of that snow should reach northern Minnesota. As the storm progresses, it may reach the Central Plains as north as Iowa but should blow eastward come Friday.

"As a result, the south, southwesterly air flow should continue to give us good weather," Gust said. "We'll actually be warmer than people in some situations south of us because we'll see more sunshine."

There still is a chance of snow Friday and again Monday, however, because of small storms rolling across southern Canada, Gust said. Otherwise, snow doesn't look possible until late next week.

More specifically, Gust said today's highs should be in the lower 40s, lows in the 20s and winds between 5 to 15 mph. Thursday should also be partly sunny, with highs between 35 to 40 degrees. Highs Friday should reach the mid-30s and there is a chance of snow.

"We're substantially above normal temperatures now, but we'll be less above normal this weekend," Gust said. "We're 20 degrees above now, but (we'll be) 10 degrees above normal this weekend."

Those abnormally high temperatures are a continuation of what happened statewide in November. The state climatology office announced Tuesday Minnesota enjoyed its warmest November on record.

The average temperature for the month was 42.7 degrees through Sunday, well above the "normal" average of 33.2 degrees, and above the previous official record of 41.2 degrees set in 1899, said Pete Boulay, assistant state climatologist.

Bruce Watson, a private meteorologist, said the 42.7 degrees figure actually broke an even older monthly record of 41.8 degrees set in 1830. That figure comes from records kept at Fort Snelling, he said, which are older than those used by the climatologist's office.

Last year, the average for November was 37.2 degrees, warmer than normal but not even close to this year.

The National Weather Service determines the monthly average temperature by first averaging the daily highs and the daily lows. The two averages are added together, and the sum divided by two, giving the overall monthly average.

In addition to record warmth, November also was drier than normal, but nothing approaching record levels, Boulay said. "The November normal is 1.55 inches of precipitation," he said. "We're at .74 inches, or roughly half of what we'd normally get."

Even though November was somewhat dry, 1999 has been wetter than normal because of substantially above normal rains in May and July. "The normal precipitation for the year is 28.32 inches, and we're already at 28.64 inches," Boulay said. The record year was 1911, with 40.15 inches.

(This story contains material from the Associated Press.)