A Repeat of 2014?

The first full week of the new year will be a bitterly cold one in Minnesota.

graphic from NWS/LaCrosse

Temperatures are expected to be well below normal all the way through Sunday. The National Weather Service says lows in southeastern Minnesota will remain below zero all week and highs will barely get above zero.

The cold weather comes exactly one year after a similar outbreak of arctic air in this part of the state. The unofficial low this morning at the Rochester airport was 14 below.

The National Weather Service is also reporting Rochester experienced its 7th coldest year on record in 2014. The average temperature was measured at 41.7 degrees. The city also recorded its 5th coldest winter on record last year, thanks to the bitterly cold weather in January and February.

The Weather Service says temperatures from January through April averaged 19.9 degrees, the 6^th coldest on record for that period in Rochester. High temperatures never warmed to 90 degrees, well below the average of 11. Conversely, there were 46 days with below zero temperatures – considerably more than the 29 day average and 9^th most on record for Rochester. High temperatures never warmed to freezing on 93 days – the equivalent of 3 months. That was 2 ½ weeks more than an average year.