Updraft® - Minnesota Weather News

November brings a wide variety of weather to Minnesota

We can ease or crash land into winter this month

November 1 at the Weather Lab
Nov. 1 at the Weather Lab
Paul Huttner | MPR News

No sun — no moon! No morn — no noon — No dawn — no dusk — no proper time of day.

No warmth, no cheerfulness, no healthful ease, No comfortable feel in any member —

No shade, no shine, no butterflies, no bees, No fruits, no flowers, no leaves, no birds! —

November!

— Excerpt from “November” by Thomas Hood

Thomas Hood nailed it. November can be as bleak as they come in Minnesota. But I may be biased. November is by far my least favorite month.

It‘s historically the grayest month of the year with just 39 percent of possible sunshine on average. Welcome to low stratus season, Minnesota.

November brings a wide variety of weather to Minnesota, but the trend is unmistakable. We’re tumbling headlong toward winter. It is just a question of whether we’ll ease or crash into the inevitable winter season.

Here are some notable November weather stats for the Twin Cities:

  • 50 degrees (average high temperature on Nov. 1)

  • 35 degrees (average high temperature on Nov. 30)

  • 15 degrees (average high temperature drop for the month)

  • 39 percent of possible sunshine on average in November

  • 6.8 inches (average monthly snowfall for November)

November brings the second biggest temperature drop of the year as the average high plummets 15 degrees from Nov 1 to Nov. 30. Only October has a slightly bigger drop of 16 degrees. And yes it has been as cold as minus 25 degrees in November in the Twin Cities.

Fall weather data
Fall temperature trends in the Twin Cities
Twin Cities National Weather Service office

November snowfall varies widely. As little as a trace of snow has fallen in four years. As much as 46.9 inches fell in the infamous November of 1991. This is the time of year when dusk seems to set in after lunchtime.

We lose about an hour of daylight during the month of November in Minnesota. The sunset in the Twin Cities after the time change falls back to a dreary 4:34 p.m. by Nov. 30.

So we watch the weather maps closely this month. Just about anything can happen.

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