Jumping from April to July for one day

Thursday, April 23rd was record-setting for many communities in Minnesota, as bright sun and strong southerly winds brought a remarkable rise in temperature to mid-July values. It was by far the warmest April 23rd since 1990. With 30-40 mph winds mixing the air, relative humidity fell to just 10 to 20 percent in many southern and western counties. Afternoon temperatures of at least 90 degrees F were reported from Marshall, Appleton, Morris, Wheaton, Willmar, Benson, Madison, Ortonville, Montevideo, Olivia, Redwood Falls, Canby, Luverne, Fergus Falls, Milan, Artichoke Lake, and Granite Falls. A reading of 94 degrees F at Canby (Yellow Medicine County) set a new all-time state record for the date (old record was 93 F at Winona on April 23, 1980). Communities as far north as Fergus Falls saw temperatures climb into the 90s F.

Among the new record high temperatures for April 23rd were:

Montevideo with 91 F, Redwood Falls 92 F, Morris 91 F, Wheaton 90 F, Willmar 91 F, Madison 91 F, Canby 94 F, Olivia 90 F, Marshall 90 F, Luverne 90 F, Granite Falls 93 F, Fergus Falls 90 F, Fairmont 88 F, Faribault 88 F,

With the number of records set it was arguably the warmest April 23rd in state history, as over 20 communities hit 90 degrees F or greater. In 1990 seven communities hit 90 F or greater on April 23rd, while in 1980 two communities did so, and in 1960 three communities warmed that much.

If you want to track daily temperature values for Minnesota the commercial web site called AnythingWeather Communications is a good place to do so.