A few stray thoughts about the mildest winter on record.
1). No, every winter going forward WILL NOT be this warm. We are sliding back into a La Nina cool phase of the Pacific, so odds favor colder, snowier weather next winter.
2). I enjoyed the break, but creature comfort was tempered by the fact that this was an (extreme) example of warming winters, brought on by a rapidly changing climate AND El Nino. Minnesota winters are warming and shrinking with more rain and ice. That's not a theory or model. It's the long-term trend. I'm hoping my grandkids can enjoy snow-days the way I did growing up.
Welcome to early late April with low 60s today and a shot at 70F Sunday with an inevitable swarm of late-day thunderstorms. We "cool" into the 40s and 50s next week, and (some) weather models try to spin up a slushy snow event late next week. Still not pulling out the driveway stakes yet. There WILL be more slush.
One more note about MSP's winter: Seven record highs and seven record mild lows were observed since Dec. 1.
![Team Greece's boat parades along the Seine river in Paris, France, during the opening ceremony of the 2024 Summer Olympics, Friday, July 26, 2024. (AP](https://arc.stimg.co/startribunemedia/GFUTTQG65BGEJF76IYABYF27V4.jpg?h=91&w=145&fit=crop&bg=999&crop=faces)
Paris dazzles with a rainy Olympics opening ceremony on the Seine River
Rain, rain and more rain couldn't drown out the cheers at the Paris Olympics opening ceremony
![Twin Cities meteorologist Paul Douglas is retiring from WCCO after seven years on the radio. He started working for Minnesota news stations in 1983 an](https://arc.stimg.co/startribunemedia/KIG3GIEQLRFUBKF6ABXPYJT2ZM.jpg?h=91&w=145&fit=crop&bg=999&crop=faces)