Cold air has ended or momentarily paused the enduring mild temperature pattern in the Twin Cities for the winter of 2015-16. The airport recorded the first below zero temperature of the season on January 9th, and the Twin Cities remained below zero for the next 42 hours straight. The arctic air arrived late this winter, making this the 8th latest date for the first at or below zero temperature reading at the airport.
In 143 years of record keeping in the Twin Cities, the official temperature has always fallen below zero sometime during the winter. There has never been a Twin Cities winter where the temperature has not dipped to zero or colder at least twice.
The long term average for the first below-zero reading in the Twin Cities is December 8. The earliest below-zero temperature recorded in the Twin Cities was November 4, 1991.
Twin Cities Latest First Zero or Colder Temperature of the Winter (period of record: 1872-2015)
Rank Season First At or Below Zero ------------------------------- 1) 2011-12 January 18 1) 2001-02 January 18 1) 1888-89 January 18 4) 1954-55 January 16 5) 2002-03 January 11 5) 1974-75 January 11 5) 1913-14 January 11 8) 2015-16 January 10 9) 1877-78 January 4 10) 1969-70 January 2