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EVEN COLDER?

     
     
     
     Published Tuesday, July 8, 1997 
     
     Record chill comes to Minnesota
     
     Howard Sinker / Star Tribune
     
     Folks who went north for a week of slow-paced resorting and wilderness 
     fun got a chilly surprise Monday when low-temperature records were set 
     in parts of Minnesota.
     
     International Falls dipped to 34 degrees, the coldest July day ever in 
     that border town. Embarrass reached 29, and a National Weather Service 
     observer 3 miles from Tower called in 24 degrees from the valley where 
     her monitoring equipment is located.
     
     "I don't plant a garden," said Kathy Hoppa, a volunteer who has 
     provided temperature information for 25 years. "I've learned better," 
     she said. "I remember years of replanting after the 4th of July."
     It was her thermometer that attracted statewide attention Feb. 2, 
     1996, when she recorded an all-time Minnesota low of 60 below.
     
     The previous International Falls record of 35 degrees was set July 2, 
     1972, and was tied Sunday. Elsewhere in the state, Austin hit a record 
     low of 45 degrees that broke a record for the date set in 1984. 
     Mankato stayed at 50, but that tied a record set in 1972.
     
     In Eau Claire, Wis., the low of 44 degrees broke a July 7 record from 
     1891.
     
     The Weather Service had advised folks in northeastern Minnesota that 
     frost was possible in low-lying areas. At Ely, about 25 miles away, 
     the low stayed above freezing at 34 degrees.
     
     The morning low was 49 degrees in the Twin Cities, which had received 
     more than a half-inch of rain by Monday evening.And although it felt 
     especially chilly in the afternoon rain, motorists on southbound 
     interstate Hwy. 35W north of downtown Minneapolis did a double take 
     about 3 p.m. when a traffic message board read: "ICE AT I-94 TUNNEL -- 
     PREPARE TO STOP."
     
     John Heibel at the Traffic Management Center explained that an 
     erroneous message-board code apparently was entered after an accident 
     in the Lowry Tunnel.But in northern Minnesota, ice was possible. 
     "Tower and Embarrass are in areas where the cold air pools in the 
     valleys, so they're a little colder than the other places," said 
     meteorologist Greg Richards, of the Weather Service's Duluth office. 
     "It makes a difference between killing your tomatoes or not. Some of 
     the more sensitive crops probably died out if they weren't covered."
     
     Richards said that snow wasn't really possible because the chill was 
     caused by a combination that included clear skies and light winds. 
     Monday night's clouds and rain were expected to contribute to more 
     normal low temperatures throughout the state.
     
     "This is one of the few months when snow is highly unlikely up here," 
     Richards said. "We're not going to count it out, but that would be a 
     pretty extraordinary circumstance."And when it warms up, Hoppa added, 
     the holiday from bugs will end: "They're still around, don't worry. 
     They're dormant on a day like this, but as soon as it gets warm, 
     they're back out."
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