A record-breaking warm, snowless winter confuses the Midwest
Lucy Wallace, a recent transplant from San Diego, had been warned about the frigid winters in her new hometown of Minneapolis. She bought a $900 winter coat, two pairs of boots and metal spikes to make her running shoes usable on icy sidewalks.
So she was both confused and relieved by the record-breaking warm temperatures that made for a rare snowless winter holiday week across much of the upper Midwest.
“I have spent hundreds of dollars on a new wardrobe and winter gear that have gone completely unused until now,” said Ms Wallace, 35, who ran five miles in a T-shirt on Christmas Day. “Here I am wearing my San Diego wardrobe in Minneapolis in December.”
A high of 54 degrees said this Christmas Day was the warmest on record in the Minneapolis area the National Weather Service. Across much of the region, people struggled with a stretch of days leading up to the new year that felt like a mild fall. Ice fishing was especially dangerous on lakes covered with thin ice sheets.
And a hack to organize large holiday gatherings was foiled. “I think of all the Minnesota families who rely on using the porch as an extra freezer during Christmas entertaining when it’s almost 50 degrees outside,” said Minnesota Lieutenant Governor Peggy Flanagan. wrote on Threads.
It is not unprecedented to have a warm or snowless Christmas in Minnesota. But such days are likely to become more common as a result of climate change. said Jessica Hellmann, director of the Institute on the Environment at the University of Minnesota.
“It’s a big cultural shift to experience 50 yesterday and how disorienting that is from a geographical perspective,” said Dr. Hellmann in an interview on Tuesday. “It’s an intuitive sense of what climate change looks and feels like to people who are used to living in a certain climate.”
In northern Minnesota, emergency officials have warned people to stay away from lakes, which are covered in an unusually thin layer of ice.
Last week, a Cessna plane landing on Upper Red Lake broke through the ice, according to Beltrami County Sheriff Jason Riggs.
“On landing, the absence of snow caused the plane to have difficulty slowing down,” he said said in a statement. “Eventually the aircraft slid into an area of thin ice and the nose of the aircraft broke through in open water.”
The plane’s two occupants, who had flown from Michigan for a day of ice fishing, were rescued.
In nearby Becker County, a 67-year-old man was found dead Saturday after his SUV crashed through thin ice. This was reported by the Becker County Sheriff’s Office.
Ted Bonde, president of the Wisconsin Interscholastic Fishing Association, said ice fishing competitions in much of the state were postponed for at least a week as winter anglers eagerly awaited the arrival of the cold.
“I know nature does this and at some point it will change; it is only a matter of time,” Mr Bonde said, adding: “Once it happens, there will be a mad rush to get out of there.”
Mr. Bonde, who coaches the high school fishing team in Kiel, Wis., about 45 miles south of Green Bay, said there was two inches of ice in his area on Dec. 10 — enough to walk on. No longer.
“It’s all gone,” he said. “Everyone is taking their boats out where there used to be ice.”
Milwaukee, which has recorded seven days above 50 degrees so far this month, is on track for its warmest December and warmest year on record, said Cameron Miller, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Milwaukee.
On Christmas Day, the high was 52 – well above the average high of 34 – and only dropped overnight to 48, the warmest low temperature on record, Mr Miller said.
With “only a trace” of snow this month, it was not an ideal season for winter sports. “I’m an avid cross-country skier, and this kind of weather is terrible for someone like me,” Mr. Miller said.
Jacob Frey, the mayor of Minneapolis, said he enjoyed taking his daughter to the playground in late December, a month later than in years past. He is an avid runner and appreciates the absence of snow and ice on trails and sidewalks. But there is something deeply unsettling about his first snowless Christmas in Minneapolis, said Mr. Frey, who combating climate change a priority.
“Any enjoyment of the warmth is overshadowed by concern about what is going on,” Mr Frey said. “It’s a very creepy and disturbing way to enjoy it, because it makes you wonder what’s coming next.”
The unusual warmth was expected to shift eastward Tuesday and Wednesday, with high temperatures rising 10 to 20 degrees above normal from the Upper Midwest across the Great Lakes, according to the National Weather Service. Mild temperatures were also forecast along the East Coast, with highs in the 50s in the Mid-Atlantic and temperatures in the 60s in the Carolinas.
Scientists say it is difficult to attribute a single abnormal weather event to climate change. But there’s no doubt that winters in the United States have has become milder in recent years.
Casualties of this year’s sultry winter include the Minnesota Ice Festival, featuring a gigantic maze of ice and snow. It was canceled last week.
“The weather has not cooperated and we will not be able to provide the experience we had hoped for,” Minnesota Ice CEO Robbie Harrell said in a statement.
One benefit of this strange winter is the absence of a certain type of complaints that start as early as November, Mr. Frey said.
“We are very proud of our record number of complaints about snow plows,” he joked. “Our plow drivers have been so quick and effective; they have tried a new strategy and it is clearly working.”
John Keef reporting contributed.