9/15/2011 Record Low Temps last night-Growing season has ended in some areas-Upper 20s reported!

Frost in our backyard in West Downtown Rochester September 15th 2011

Record Low Temperatures with the first frost of the season was reported across all of Southeast Minnesota area last night, and in some localized cases freezing conditions were reported, causing an end to the growing season. A very strong cold front, followed by a strong high pressure with dry air allowed clear skies which contributed to the frost/freeze overnight. A hard damaging frost was seen in most cases North of I-90 away from the Mississippi River and outside the Rochester Metro where low 30s and upper 20s were common. South of I-90 and along the Mississippi, frost was more patchy and less damaging. In these areas mid 30s were seen and the growing season continues.

Photo of tender annuals that were not effect by frosts.

At my location in West Downtown we also had our frist frost with a low 35.F, but the frost was extremely patchy/light, from a distance the yard barely had any white appearance at all. Flowers and tender plants along the deck were not effected and are still beautiful and in full bloom, but on my daily commute to the college on the Eastern outskirts of the city I saw plants that were hit and the corn crops appeared to be very brown. To go along with this, The Rochester Airport away from the city 9 miles to my south had a record breaking low of 31.F, with a hard frost. My theory behind the lack of frost an warmer conditions at my location is that there was some heating effect going on from all the nearby homes and large buildings, as the yard is located in a inner city residential neighborhood.

Low temps recorded September 15th 2011

Several locations broke record low temperatures last night, one including the Rochester International Airport which had a low of 31.F breaking the old record for Sept 15th which was 32.F The coldest area-wide reading came from a un official station in Kenyon which fell to 28.F and the warmest area was Washaba at 36.F For the Rochester Metro, the coldest in the area was Oronoco, where a freeze was reported and the warmest was My station in West Downtown which fell to 35.F.