
Minnesota Now Set to Break 106-Year-Old Weather Record
Minnesota may be the Land of 10,000 Lakes, but it could also be the Land of 10,000 Weather Quirks because Mother Nature is now gearing up to shatter a record that's been chilling on the books since 1919.
We've all heard the old adage that if you don't like the weather in Minnesota, just wait five minutes and it will change, right? (And, to be fair, it seems like just about *every* state, from coast to coast, makes that same claim, or some variation of it.) But given the sub-zero cold weather Minnesota endured last week where overnight low temperatures dipped to -20 degrees in many parts of the state, our weather is changing big-time this week.
Speaking of changing, a lot of things have changed here in Minnesota since this last weather record was set 106 years ago. Back in 1919, the North Star State had a population of just under 2.5 million, under half of our current population. Joseph A. A. Burnquist was in his fourth year as Minnesota's 19th governor.
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And Minnesota's current third-largest city of Rochester (though it was likely more like the 4th or 5th-largest city back then) set a weather record that January that is now about to fall by the wayside.
Back then, winters in the Bold North seemed much colder and snowier than they have in recent years, right? But it's been a different story recently. MPR says that 2024 was the warmest year EVER recorded in Minnesota, with record-high temperatures and a distinct lack of snow being much more common. For instance, MSP Airport near Bloomington hit a record high of 55 degrees on Jan. 30th, 2024. And that trait appears to be continuing this week in 2025, as well.
And thanks to these warm temperatures, the 106-year-old weather record Rochester is likely to break in the next few days is the high-temperature record, which according to the National Weather Service La Crosse (NWS) office is as follows:
- January 28th: 49 degrees, set in 1931
- January 29th: 46 degrees, set in 2024
- January 30th: 49 degrees, set in 1919
- January 31st: 52 degrees, set in 2024
The NWS forecast for Rochester calls for a high of 45 degrees on Tuesday, Jan. 28th, so that record high of 49 degrees, set in 1931, is likely still safe. The NWS forecast high for Wednesday, Jan. 29th calls for a high of only 38 degrees, so the record of 46 degrees, set last year in 2024 is also likely to stand.

However, the NWS Rochester forecast for Thursday, January 30th calls for high temperatures near 50 degrees. And, if they do, indeed, hit that mark, it would shatter the previous record high temperature of 49 degrees, set 106 years ago.
Will that long-standing Rochester weather record be relegated to the dustbin of Minnesota history? Only time will tell, of course. And speaking of things that have gone by the wayside, keep scrolling to check out some once-common items from the year you were born that are now gone, as well!
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LOOK: Things from the year you were born that don't exist anymore
Gallery Credit: Stacey Marcus
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