Minnesota Winters Much More Harsh in the 70s and 80s Than Now

With the snowy weather that we are getting today, some will say FINALLY! It makes me think about how it was when I was a little kid and how much more snow we seemed to get then, as compared to now. And apparently, that is true, not just my imagination.

Winter snow and cold was a lot worse back in the 70s and 80s compared to how it is today.. We used to get some crazy blizzards. And of course, being a kid at the time, it was awesome!  Let's build a snow fort, or go sledding or any number of outdoor activities would be so fun as a kid.

Now, I just see it as a driving hazard.

Being a kid was so much easier with these weather situations.  Seeing drifts that would be as high as the backside of our garage was a common occurrence, and it isn't that they just seemed bigger and badder just because I was a little kid. I did some research and found out that it's not my imagination. Winter was snowier and colder back then.

It's also a lot more rainy too. (obviously not here in the Midwest if we are going by the last few summers- other than last June). But in other areas they were getting way too much rain. When we do get rain here, the downpours are crazy.

Check this out.

The average temperature has been rising.  It's only like a tenth to a half a degree every decade which doesn't seem like a lot, but that's the average, and it's rising more rapidly in recent years.

Winters are warming more quickly as well.  Again, it's only a degree on average every decade since the 70s, but it adds up. I know we are experiencing the deep freeze right now, but that will change. And it usually happens a lot earlier than mid-February.  And we do have Spring right around the corner, so this polar plunge will be short lived.  It seems long just because it's really cold, but in the big picture, it's not that long of a time considering how long winter is.

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Climatologists have taken readings from 3 different places in Minnesota. North- Cloquet, Mid- Milan and South- Rochester.

Changes in climate are measured over big areas and many years. But here are three Minnesota examples of rising average minimum January temperatures. Thirty-year averages are important measures for climatologists, and they are re-calculated at the end of each decade.

If you look at Summer, it rains a lot more too.  This I am not a fan of.  We have enough of not really going out very much during the Winter months, and now we can't enjoy the outdoors as much in the Summer either because of inclement weather.  This is not a win-win.  And it creates more mosquitos, let's be honest.

Measurements get complicated, but far more really big storms -- defined as those in which at least 6 inches of rain fall over an area of 1,000 or more square miles and the core of the storm generates at least 8 inches of rain -- have hit in recent years.