Just how cold is it in Minnesota? (St. Cloud, Mankato: home, tax)

[Fr. John]

If you're a native, it's fine.
If you're from ANYWHERE else but ND, SD, or Wis,

It's 30 BELOW Zero in the winter - it is, really!
It's hot and sticky, and mosquitoes are the size of hummingbirds - aren't they?
And you wouldn't want to live here, anyway, right.

LOLOL

No, seriously, it IS cold here. It DOES get that chilly, and we are heading into another 'La Nina' cold spurt for winters, for the next two to five years.

So, it's really only for the 'above average' sort of person, as Gary Keillor says. Or one with an unlimited heating bill budget.....

[knke0204]

Winters here are over exaggerated.
Simply because an extended period of time of dark days, windy days and cold days makes it seem like eternity.
In reality, Winter in MN only exsists from December to March. Novembers are easy (usually much colder than now, but bearable)

MPLS is only 5 degrees cooler than Detroit, Cleveland, Chicago, Pittsburgh, Milwaukee.

[monte385]

This might tell more of the story.

Average High/Low Temperatures for KSTP : Weather Underground

Average High/Low Temperatures for KBKL : Weather Underground

Average High/Low Temperatures for KORD : Weather Underground

[Minnesota Spring]

Its so cold in Minnesota, that even Fairbanks Alaska is warmer than us right now! This recent cold spell is pretty crazy. It wouldnt be so bad if we didnt have at least three more months of it to go through

[TimtheGuy]

pretty warm right now. 31 degrees with freezing rain. Turkey day is a high of 15. Hopefully we can pick up a couple feet of snow soon!!

[audadvnc]

It was perfect Thanksgiving weather! Yesterday and today are above freezing, the streets are clear, the snow from 2 weeks ago is melting away. We're due for a winter storm tonight.

[knke0204]

The cold only feels much colder because we just had high 50's and even low 60's as late as November 7th. It's hard to get acclimated in a three week span.

[audadvnc]

But winter's coming. We Minnesotans have a unique temperature rating system...

65 F - "kinda warm, y'know. Get me a beer..."
48 F - "Oh, yes - a perfect day! "
30 F and sleeting - "nice day, for ducks"
15 F - "getting cool..." (locals switch to long pants - tell the kid to shovel)
0 F - "kinda brisk out" (put hands in pockets)
-15F - "hmph!" (locals start zipping up their windbreakers)
-30F - "JEEZUS it's COLD OUT!G@DD@&^MMIT!!!" (spit on the ground, watch it bounce - call the towing service for a jump)

One of my favorite deep cold activities is - blowing bubbles at night. The bubble freezes, it steams, it floats on the air - and if you tap lightly on one, it rings like a bell. When you tap a little harder, it shatters into a thousand pieces of ice.

[light_shimmer]

Come shovel my driveway today- you'll find out how cold it is
Kidding
It's actually not so bad today when the wind stops blowing for a moment.

Just checked weather.com It's currently 9 degrees with a wind chill of -4. Doesn't sound so bad, but that's a pretty important 13 degree difference when you're swearing at the mountain of snow the snowplow just hiked up into your driveway.

Oh the joys

[jeffredo]

I went to college in Des Moines, Iowa. The TV weather always showed nearby major cities. It was cold in Des Moines from Thanksgiving to President's Day (usually didn't break freezing the whole time), but it seemed the Twin Cities were always 10 degrees colder. Des Moines is colder than any of those cities people have been comparing it to in this thread and another 10 degrees is definitely noticeable. I remember flying from Des Moines to MPLS around Christmas. It was about 14 degrees in DSM and felt like "ouch". Got off the plane in MPLS and it was 4 degrees and felt like "DAMN!".

Of course I'm a wimpy Bay Area native who never fully acclimated to the winters on the north plains so what do I know.