A summer preview

The first day of spring officially was Tuesday, but Red Wing already has gotten a taste of summer in the past few days.

In the warm, windy weather Monday before the rain, kids played outside at recess, people all around the city were out for walks and diners ate outdoors. The temperature reached 79 degrees that day, according to information from U.S. Lock & Dam No. 3.

Records were broken here and across the state last week and this week as temperatures climbed above 80 degrees during what technically was still winter.

The hottest it previously had been in Red Wing up to March 20 was 75 degrees on March 8, 2000. But temperatures reached 80 on Friday and 81 this Saturday and Sunday.

Last year, the highest March temperature also came on the 17th — but that was 53 degrees, still topped by Saturday’s low temperature of 59.

Records were shattered throughout Minnesota in the past few days as well. On Friday, for example, the temperature in the Twin Cities reached 79, taking the place of a record of 71 degrees that had been held since 1930.

Since March 10 of this year, when the record breaking began in Red Wing, eight out of 10 consecutive days were the hottest yet.

Temperatures for the rest of the week are expected to dip but still remain above average. Today’s high in Red Wing is expected to be around 71, according to the National Weather Service, and temperatures will gradually drop to the low 60s this weekend.

In 2010 the temperature in Red Wing around this time of the month was in the low 60s and dropped to 39 by the 19th and 20th. In 2009, temperatures varied from 55 to 36 degrees around this time of the month. And in the couple years before that, it was in the high 30s and 40s.

The average March temperature is 41 degrees.

This year; past records

March 10: 67 degrees; 61 degrees, 1977

March 11: 66 degrees; 54 degrees, 1988

March 12: 55 degrees; 70 degrees, 1990

March 13: 67 degrees; 66 degrees, 1946

March 14: 75 degrees; 64 degrees, 1990

March 15: 68 degrees; 69 degrees, 1927

March 16: 80 degrees; 72 degrees, 1930

March 17: 81 degrees; 67 degrees, 1966

March 18: 81 degrees; 69 degrees, 1921

March 19: 79 degrees; 69 degrees, 1918

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