By the time November rolls around, Minnesotans usually brace for winter, packing away flip-flops and T-shirts.
But Sunday morning, first-year Asian languages and literatures student Becky Dorff strolled the superblock in just such attire.
“When there’s snow on the ground I definitely won’t be wearing a T-shirt,” she said, enjoying Sunday’s 46-degree weather.
The temperature this year has remained above 28 degrees – the National Weather Service’s threshold for a killing frost – since March 26, a record 226-day span.
The relatively balmy weather has allowed University community members to take leisurely walks, play pick-up sports and generally spend more time outdoors. It also provided Twin Cities’ denizens extended golf course times and unusual fall flowers.
“It’s pretty sweet,” said first-year student Kevin Donley. “It gives me time to be outdoors. I love being outside.”
Donley said he’s gone on random walks around campus just because the weather allows it. He’s also joined games of Frisbee, which isn’t a normal November activity, he said.
Biomedical engineering graduate student Aardhi Sivabrakasam, who moved from India in August, offered a different take on the weather.
“It’s hot? No way. I thought it was really cold,” she said.
She said the coldest weather she had experience in India was 12 degrees Celsius, or approximately 54 degrees Fahrenheit.
Sivabrakasam said she once thought 40 degrees was cold, but is “getting used to it.”
The relatively warm weather has also brought benefits to farmers and homeowners. Farmers have been able to let their corn dry in the air, reducing the amount of gas they have to use, said Deputy State Agricultural Commissioner Perry Aasness.
The typical CenterPoint Energy customer saved $8.50 on October energy bills, according to company officials.
If the National Weather Service forecast is correct, the above-freezing temperatures will continue at least until Thursday.
But first-year student Kelsey Van Dyken said she is not dreading the day when snow envelops the state.
“Once it snows, we can go snowboarding.”
– The Associated Press contributed to this report.
