Climatologically, 2016 was an unusual year for Minnesota. We were very warm but rarely excessively hot. We were very wet, with multiple intense rainfall events, but we did not see a tremendous amount of flash flood damage. We had an awful lot of thunderstorms, an almost historical barrage of damaging straight-line winds in northern Minnesota, but not an extraordinary number of tornadoes. For good measure, we ended the year with a "double surprise" during December that left climatologists scratching their heads.
We have a lot to say about 2016, and cannot do it all in one post. Instead, you can follow these links, for more information:
- We have produced a basic summary of the year, with highlights, records, and oddities tossed in for good measure.
- Here are the 5 most notable events of 2016, as voted on by climatologists, meteorologists, and our Facebook users.
- 2016 was warm all year long (every month) in the Twin Cities. Follow the progress of the warm streak here.
- Lastly, have a look at December 2016's puzzling ways!
Of course, we do not know what the new year will bring, but we hope 2017 is climatologically favorable for everyone!