We all have started to complain about the cold and snowy spring but in the southern half of the state it's nowhere near as bad as northern Minnesota and I don't mean just in absolute terms (i.e. of course northern MN is always colder, snowier than southern MN but when compared to each other's respective normals it's been worse up north too).
There's a reason they still have 1 to 2 feet of snow in portions of northeast Minnesota: it's been snowy and it's been REAL cold.
Believe it or not, in southern Minnesota- including the Twin Cities, we're BELOW normal for April snowfall! We average about 2.5" to date and we've just seen 1.6". We've had more days than normal with snow showers, but it's not added up to much. Northern Minnesota however is a whole different story:
The above chart shows the % of normal snowfall. Much of northern Minnesota has seen double to quadruple (or more) their normal April snowfall... and that's saying something. Duluth for example averages about 6" to date and has had 19". International Falls is up to almost 13" and they average 5 to date for April.
The temperatures have been worse up north too. While we've averaged about 4 to 6 degrees colder than normal for highs in the south, it's been 8 to 12 degrees colder than normal (& keep in mind their normal is colder anyway)! That's helped KEEP the excess snow around too.
Unsurprisingly, it's led to some pretty top ranking snow depth statistics for this late in the season. Pockets of northeast and northwest Minnesota are seeing a top 5% or even top 1% (purple and whitish purple spots) snow cover for the date!
So if you live in central or southern Minnesota and find yourself about to complain about what's been a miserable spring... think of our poor friends and neighbors up north. There's been not just a miserable spring, but no spring at all really just yet,...
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