On Memorial Day, we recognize and honor military personnel who lost their lives in service to our country. Observed in northern states on May 30th from the 1860s through 1970, and nationally since 1971 on the final Monday in May, the weekend also is recognized as the unofficial start to summer. Minnesotans enjoy outdoor recreation, and so the weather of the extended Memorial Day weekend can be vitally important.
Memorial Day can occur as early as May 25 and as late as May 31. In the 54 years since its federal designation (1971-2024), this holiday has had just about every kind of weather, from washouts, to clear skies, to heat waves, to snow flurries, to severe thunderstorms.
At Minnesota's five first-order climate stations, Memorial Day temperatures since 1971 ranged from a lowest reading of 29 F at International Falls, to a highest reading of 100 F in the Twin Cities. Although the day remains dry 60-70% of the time, rainfall totals have been as high as 3.33 inches in Rochester. In the Twin Cities, every Memorial Day from 2011 through 2020 had at least a trace of precipitation. Incidentally, the hottest and wettest conditions at any of these five stations (since 1971) were observed in 2018 and 2019, respectively. 2021 was dry in the Twin Cities with a high of 78. The wettest Memorial day on record for International Falls was in 2022 with 2.25 inches. There was also some wild weather, including an outbreak of long-track tornadoes for Memorial Day 2022.
Station | Highest Temperature (F) | Lowest Temperature (F) | Most Precipitation (in.) |
Duluth | 85 (2014) | 30 (1992) | 1.48 (2006) |
International Falls | 89 (2006) | 29 (1993) | 2.25 (2022) |
Rochester | 95 (2006, 2018) | 38 (1984) | 3.33 (2019) |
St. Cloud | 96 (2018) | 38 (1992,1993) | 1.28 (2011) |
Twin Cities | 100 (2018) | 39 (1993) | 1.83 (2019) |
If we include the weekend leading up to Memorial Day, we see even more variability, because the additional days improve the odds of even more weather extremes. One climatological oddity of the record for all Friday-through-Monday Memorial Day weekends in the Twin Cities since 1971, is that is that Memorial Day is often the nicest, or at least the driest day of the weekend. That day has seen measurable precipitation (0.01" or greater) only 38% of the time. By contrast, 45% of Saturdays and Sundays during Memorial Day weekend have recorded measurable precipitation.
Following are some climatological statistics for Memorial Day weekend in the Twin Cities since 1971.
Twin Cities Memorial Day Weekend Weather (1971 - 2020, 50 years) Memorial Day Weekend Fri. Sat. Sun. Mon. Mean Maximum Temperature (F) 71.9 72.1 72.5 73.6 High Maximum Temperature (F) 96 94 97 100 (year) 1978 2018 2006 2018 Low Maximum Temperature (F) 49 54 53 49 (year) 1987 1996 1995 1992 Mean Minimum Temperature (F) 52.7 53.5 54.5 53.9 Low Minimum Temperature (F) 39 36 39 39 (year) 1979 1974 1992 1993 Greatest Rainfall 1.56 2.17 1.10 1.83 (year) 1975 1978 1975 2019 % of days with measurable rain 42% 46% 44% 38%