Playing golf, skiing, and pickleball in January? Minnesotans are embracing record warm weather

In late January, Minnesotans are accustomed to hunkering down and doing whatever it takes to get where they need to go despite subzero temperatures. That's what we did during the 2019 polar vortex when temperatures across the state dropped into the negative 50s. But Wednesday was a completely different story.

Instead of packing up and preparing for the bitter winds, it looked more like spring outside. People have been wrapping up this record warm month of January and doing all kinds of non-winter activities.

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Maple syrup is usually tapped in early spring, or when daytime temperatures rise above freezing. Temperatures are certainly above freezing, but Jim Morrison, owner of Sapsucker Farms in Mora, said it's not time yet.

“There are a number of factors one must consider as to when the flow will start, and temperature is just one of them,” he said. “Temperature cycle, frost in the ground, I went out by the way and tried to drive a stake into the ground, which is a metal rod, and there was still a lot of frost in the ground.”

The ideal time to drink maple syrup in Minnesota is usually around mid-March, he said.

Other Minnesotans are changing their outdoor exercise routines to better match the weather.

Oak Marsh Golf Course east of St. Paul opened its season yesterday, and players were teeing off today.

Tony Sherman, who lives in Woodbury and coaches golf at St. Paul Johnson High School, is all for it. “This is just a great way to start the year. I mean, who can say you played golf in January in Minnesota?”

Emerald Greens in Hastings was also open today, and Joel Holden was there achieving a goal he never really thought was possible.

“I needed January and February to play golf every month in Minnesota. And I'll play golf tomorrow,” he said. “I grew up in International Falls — near Canada to the north — so I'm used to cold weather, but I hate it.”

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There's something else he hates. “Climate change is terrible, and everything warming is terrible. But if I could play golf all year round in Minnesota, I would stay. I would never have to move south.”

Marco Torres was just doing his job, installing fiber optic cable for Comcast in downtown St. Paul.

“The recent rise in temperatures has been perfect. Most of the ground has melted, making it easier to dig. It's more productive now than it was last year,” Torres said.

Torres said he's been busier lately. Next week, that seems likely to continue. Forecasts indicate that the first week of February will be 20 degrees warmer than average.

Why is it so warm?

“It's really a triple whammy for meteorology,” said Paul Huttner, MPR's chief meteorologist. “First and foremost, we have the mild Pacific air that we have enjoyed most of the winter. Today we have bright sunshine. And the bare ground – that's the third thing.