KMSP - Mark your calendars; the unofficial official start to the growing season is here… April 6th is the first day of the year where AVERAGE high and low temperatures in the metro are now above freezing. This does NOT mean that we are done with freezing temperatures for the season or even snow for that matter, but we are no longer likely to freeze every night. I know it’s not exactly a big leap, but baby steps here people. While the coolish temperatures aren’t done quite yet, the day marks a milestone toward the eventual growing season. So when will the last freeze occur?
Well, no way to know that with any certainty, but looking at our climatology can certainly help us prepare for when it USUALLY occurs. For south central Minnesota, it’s usually the last week or so of April. For the metro, the first of May is usually a pretty good mile marker. The latest last freeze ever for the Twin Cities was May 24, 1925. The earliest final spring freeze for the metro was nearly 2 months before that, coming in around the first of April (Which we’ve already passed). For northern Minnesota though, it’s usually well into May before the freezing conditions are done with the Arrowhead coming in pretty close to June 1st on average.