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Other Stations in Minneapolis

About this Station

The Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul are located at the confluence of the Mississippi and Minnesota Rivers over the heart of an artesian water basin. Its flat or gently rolling terrain varies little in elevation from that of the official observation station at International Airport. Numerous lakes dot the surrounding area. Minneapolis alone boasts of 22 lakes within the city park system. The largest body of water, nearly 15,000 acres, is Lake Minnetonka, located about 15 miles west of the airport. Most bodies of water are relatively small and shallow and are ice covered during winter.

The climate of the Minneapolis-St. Paul area is predominantly continental. Seasonal temperature variations are quite large. Temperatures range from less than -30 degrees to over 100 degrees. The growing season is 166 days. Because of this favorable growing season, all crops generally mature before the autumn freeze occurs.

The Twin Cities lie near the northern edge of the influx of moisture from the Gulf of Mexico. Severe storms such as blizzards, freezing rain (glaze), tornadoes, wind and hail storms do occur. The total annual precipitation is important. Even more significant is its proper distribution during the growing season. During the five month growing season, May through September, the major crops produced are corn, soybeans, small grains, and hay. During this period, the normal rainfall is over 16 inches, approximately 65 percent of the annual precipitation. Winter snowfall is nearly 48 inches. Winter recreational weather is excellent because of the dry snow. These conditions exist from about Christmas into early March. Snow depths average 6 to 8 inches in the city and 8 to 10 inches in the suburbs during this period.

Floods occur along the Mississippi River due to spring snow melt, excessive rainfall, or both. Occasionally an ice jam forms and creates a local flood condition. The flood problem at St. Paul is complicated because the Minnesota River empties into the Mississippi River between the two cities. Consequently, high water or flooding on the Minnesota River creates a greater flood potential at St. Paul. Flood stage at St. Paul can be expected on the average once in every eight years.

Data Inventories

Please note that additional data (digital and non-digital) may be available for this station. Contact NCDC if additional details are needed.


Click on the following where available:


• DAT to obtain digital ascii data (charges may apply),
  Please do not order these data if you do not know what a Digital ASCII File is.
  
• INV to view inventory, or
  
• DOC to view documentation

Surface
DAT INV DOC 3200 -Cooperative Summary Of The Day
DAT INV DOC 3210 -Summary Of The Day - First Order
DAT INV DOC SOD -Daily Surface Data (TD3200/3210 combined)
DAT INV DOC 3220 -Summary Of The Month (SOM) Cooperative
DAT INV DOC 3240 -Hourly Precipitation Data
DAT INV DOC 3280 -Surface Airways Hourly And Airways Solar Radiation
DAT INV DOC 3290 -Summary Observation
DAT INV DOC 3292 -Weather Duration
DAT INV DOC 9950 -DATSAV 2 Surface (see Global Surface Station Information).

DATA

Additional data products may be available for this station. If you can't find what you are looking for here, please try our Most Popular Products page.

Forms, Publications, and Web Pages
Graphs and Other Images
Digital ASCII Files


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Forms, Publications, and Web Pages

Most of these products are publications that have been converted to on-line access. As such, these documents have column headings and are displayed in an easy-to-read format.

For additional information and product samples, click on the icon next to the desired product.

Hourly Precipitation Data for Minnesota
Daily/Monthly/Annual Minnesota Climatological Data
Record of Climatological Observations
Annual Climatological Summary
Storm Data Publication


Miscellaneous Storm Events in Hennepin County
    *All Drought Dust Storm Flood Fog Hail Hurricane & Tropical Storm Lightning Tornado Wild/Forest Fire Ocean/lake Surf Precipitation Snow & Ice Temperature Extremes Thunderstorm & High Wind

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Graphs and Other Images

Includes contour maps, time series, NEXRAD radar mosaics, and satellite images.

For additional information and product samples, click on the icon next to the desired product.

National Mosaic Reflectivity Images
Miscellaneous Satellite Images


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Digital ASCII Files

These files may or may not contain column headers. In order to use these files, you will need to import them into a spreadsheet or database package for presentation. Please do not order these data if you do not know what a Digital ASCII File is. A sample Digital ASCII File is available for viewing but content varies a great deal depending on your request. Other digital files are available Offline that may contain data for this station.

For additional information and product samples, click on the icon next to the desired product.

SOD -Daily Surface Data (TD3200/3210 combined)
3220 -Summary Of The Month (SOM) Cooperative
3240 -Hourly Precipitation Data

Station History

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NCDC / Climate-Radar Data Inventories / Locate Station / Search