MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) – It may be spring in Minnesota, but Tuesday’s weather was all over the map.
We saw snow in the northern part of the state, but thunderstorms in parts of southern Minnesota.
With about 92 percent of the state experiencing moderate drought conditions, the precipitation is welcome.
At Don Malecha’s farm near Northfield, the work never ends.
“Oh yeah, 365 days a year,” he said.
There, it’s all about the cows and the crops.
And as Malecha gets ready for another planting season, he has one concern.
“We’re kind of concerned it might be a dry year,” he said. “Everything seems like it, and we are pry due for a dry spell.”
Farmers are getting some of the precipitation they need, but it’s coming in all kinds of forms.
It snowed up north on the Iron Range, but heavy rains came down in the south around Rochester.
There was some hail and even snow pellets mixed in between. We’ve even seen lightning over the past few days.
It’s a mixed bag of weather — even for Minnesota.
“I don’t care what form the precipitation falls in, we need it at this point,” WCCO chief meteorologist Chris Shaffer said.
Shaffer has seen even wackier weather.
Just over a year ago, on March 31, there was a blizzard warning that stretched from the Dakotas to Marshall, Minnesota.
But just 30 miles from Marshall, a tornado touched down near St. Leo.
“To have a blizzard warning and, literally miles away, a confirmed tornado touchdown — that’s very rare,” Shaffer said.
Nothing like that is in the forecast now, but it shows that nothing is off limits during a Minnesota spring.
“It’s pretty eye-popping when you look at the radar and go, ‘Look at that: Thunderstorms, some severe, and accumulating snow,” said Shaffer.
