REGIONAL— The North Country’s trend of warming early fall weather bore out once again this year as one of the mildest Septembers in recent history made its way into the record books. While the Twin Cities set a new all-time record for the warmest September, most longstanding stations in the North Country fell short of an all-time mark.
It was the sixth warmest September on record at International Falls (which has records going back more than a century) with an average temperature of 59.2 degrees. Meanwhile, Hibbing experienced its third warmest September, based on records that go back to 1962, also averaging 59.2 degrees for the month. Tower reported an average for the month of 59.1 degrees, while Ely recorded 59.3 degrees.
Overnight low temperatures, more than daytime highs, helped contribute to the exceptionally warm September. In fact, Hibbing experienced its warmest overall low temperature in September in its roughly 60 years of record keeping. International Falls experienced the third warmest overnight low temperatures this past month.
This month’s temperatures ranged from four to six degrees above average for the month, a trend that has become increasingly common in recent years as the climate warms. “It has become like a summer month,” said state climatologist Pete Boulay. “It didn’t used to always be that way.”
The updated forecast calls for a distinct cool-down heading into the end of the week, followed by another round of above-average temperatures. Both the 6-10 and 8-14 day outlooks call for above average temperatures and below average precipitation.
The 90-day outlook, running Oct. 1-Dec. 31, suggests above average temperatures in northeastern Minnesota with equal chances of precipitation. According to Boulay, however, the return of a strong el Nino is likely to contribute to a milder winter than usual.
The normal high as of Oct. 6 is 57 degrees with an average low of 33.