Spring Has Sprung? Weather Records in MN

Pipestone County Star 06-06-2013

Wait, someone told me spring was coming.  Better yet, isn’t summer supposed to start in three weeks?  So where is the nice warm weather – so far all we’ve seen is copious amounts of rain.  Don’t get me wrong, we’re not complaining.  For the second month in a row, we’ve succeeded in getting above average rainfall, and not so far above that we are flooding.  That’s great news for the soil, but there’s very little growth out there for us gardeners who like to see our seeds burst forth with enthusiasm.  Everything simply seems to be waiting for the sun, kind of like me.

So what are some of the weather records set in the State of Minnesota?

Warmest temp: On both July 29, 1917 and July 6, 1936, the ambient air temperature reached 114 degrees Fahrenheit in Beardsley and Moorhead, respectively.   Talk about warm!  And trust me, kids, it’s NOT a dry heat!

Coldest Temp:  In a state that, in my opinion, is usually always cold, Minnesota set their record in 1996 at the Embarrass Tower of -60 degrees Fahrenheit.  Wow.  And that doesn’t include the windchill.

Most Rainfall: St. Francis had 53.52 inches of precipitation in 1991 – that’s more than one inch a week!  The statewide record (averaged with everyone) was set in 1977 and we had 33.92 (average) inches that year.

Least Rainfall: Our driest place in the state was Ortonville in 1976.  The poor town only had 6.37 inches of precipitation over the entire year.  The longest dry spell in our state’s history was recorded in Marshall, lasting 79 days, from November 9, 1943 until January 26, 1944.

Snow records: The earliest recorded trace of snow happened in Duluth  on August 31, 1949.  Since that was only a trace, International Falls has the record for the earliest measurable snowfall - .3 inches on September 14, 1964.  The latest recorded snowfall happened on June 4, 1935 in Mizpah.  As for snow amounts, Lake County gets the honors of having the largest amount of snow within 24 hours – 36 inches on January 7, 1994.  Collegeville got 66 inches of snow during the month of March, 1965, giving it the record for most snow within a 31 day period.  And the deepest snow ever recorded in Minnesota? Meadowlands was measured at 88 inches on February 21, 1962.

Tornadoes: The most tornadoes the state had in one month was in June of 2010.  71 tornadoes ripped through the state during those four weeks.  In fact, 48 of them hit on June 17^th.  During the course of the entire year of 2010, we actually had 110 tornadoes.

Largest Hailstone:  Our marvelous neighbor, Edgerton, has the dubious record (tied with Reading) of the state’s largest hailstone: 6 inches in diameter on July 4, 1968.

On that note, hopefully by the time this is published, the sun will be out and my little seeds will be basking in the warmth of a good late spring day.  It will be nice to see growth! 

Have a great spring and enjoy whatever you have planned for the summer!

PAFL Update:  Pipestone Area Friends of the Library is looking for members – anyone who is a friend to Meinders Library is welcome to join!  The Friends group works hard to promote the library, raise money for projects, and organize their yearly book sale, in addition to the HUGE amount of support they provide throughout the year.  Call us for the date of the next meeting!

Book Club Reminder: The book club takes a break during the summer months and they are currently on hiatus until September.  Their meetings are the fourth Tuesday of the month and over the summer, they read what they want to and report back to the club on those tomes during their first meeting.  If you enjoy reading, you should try it out!  Everyone is welcome!!

If you have questions or have a book you’d like to reserve or renew, please don’t hesitate to give us a call at (507) 825-6714.  The hours for Meinders Library are Monday through Thursday from 10 AM – 8 PM, and Friday from 10 AM to 5 PM and Saturday from 10AM to Noon.  Summer hours are in effect from Memorial Day weekend until Labor Day Weekend.  Meinders Community Library is located at 1401 7^th Street SW, on the south side of the high school.

Tales Retold

Fairy tales are recycled, did you know that?  Originally, the tales of Cinderella and Snow white, not to mention the others, were stories for adults, filled with violence and lots of blood and awful occurrences.  As adults got bored with those stories, they were sanitized for children.  For instance, in the real Little Mermaid, Ariel is told that in order to get her voice back, she must kill the Prince and his new bride on their wedding night.  She goes in with the knife and finds she is unable to kill him.  In her despair, she flings herself from the window and dies on the rocks below the tower.  Let’s see Disney do a version of that! 

Fairy tales are coming back into popularity for older readers, this time for young adults.  Of course, older adults are welcome to read them, too, and we won’t tell if you decide to take a look through the Young Adult section – you’d be surprised how many older readers do!  The plots are just as complex as the regular adult fiction.

Here are some retold tales to get you started!

Cinder, by Marissa Meyer

In this retelling of Cinderella, the heroine is a cyborg – a human being with robotic parts.  She is viewed poorly by society, but she has a knack for fixing anything robotic, including herself.  At her weekly market booth, the Prince appears with an android that needs fixing before the annual ball and Cinder gets the feeling it’s more serious than it sounds.  She would love to go to the ball, but instead of managing it, she ends up as a guinea pig for plague research when her step-mother volunteers her body for science.  It doesn’t take long for the scientists to learn how miraculous her integration really is.  Can she still make it to the ball and steal the heart of the prince?  After all, cyborgs have feelings, too!

Cinderella, Ninja Warrior, by Maureen McGowan

I know, two Cinderellas, but they couldn’t be more different!  In order to escape from her step-mother, Cinderella hides the fact that not only does she know magic, she’s a ninja.  While I would love to tell you more, this book is also a sort of Choose Your Own Adventure kind of books, where you get to decide what sort of decision Cinderella should make – the tale is different every time!!

Ice, by Sarah Beth Durst

White Bear King Valemon is retold in this beautiful story.  Cassie lives in an Artic research station with her father.  Her grandmother tells her stories to explain her mother’s absence, that she made a deal with a polar bear king and disappeared.  Cassie simply believes this is an allegory for death, until her eighteenth birthday when she meets a polar bear out on the ice.  The bear speaks to her, telling her that her mother is still alive and imprisoned and that he can rescue her if Cassie agrees to marry him.  What follows is the journey of a life-time, not only physically, but emotionally as well.  Will Cassie meet her mother again and learn the true meaning of love and family?

Princess at the Midnight Ball, by Jessica Day George

Do you remember the tale of the twelve dancing princesses? Rose is the eldest of the twelve, enchanted to dance every night for a wicked King at his palace deep underground.  It began with a curse, and can only end with their deaths.  Then Rose meets a boy and things seem much less grave.  They only need a few items for an escape plan: an invisibility cloak, a magical chain, and true love.  Will it work?

A Kiss in Time, by Alex Flinn

Sleeping Beauty comes into a new life in this retelling.  Told from the point of view of both the kissee and the kisser, this book is quite entertaining.  She made the mistake of touching the spindle and ended up sleeping for nearly 300 years – now she’s stuck with the boy who kissed her, who is a bit upset that he did so in the first place.  Not only will they have to learn to get along, but they’ll have to win over his parents in the long run.  Will love triumph over time in this tale?

Have a beautiful day today – the sun is (hopefully) shining and gardening has started again.  And we can all build up those flip flop callouses that we lost during the winter!

Your Library Account: If you have an email, register it with your library card by calling the library at 507-825-6714 or by logging in to your account online and requesting a change!  By putting an email on your card, you will automatically get reminders when your books are overdue and you will also get an email the moment a book on hold is checked in for you at the desk!  We do not use your emails for any other purpose and our system is private.

UPCOMING EVENTS:  We will be having an upcoming Family Tree day where families attending will be able to create their own frame-worthy family tree with the help of volunteers from the Minnesota Historical Society.  Our local museum will also be on hand to tell you how you can begin researching your family right here in Pipestone.  Stay tuned for more information!!

PAFL Update:  Pipestone Area Friends of the Library is looking for members – anyone who is a friend to Meinders Library is welcome to join!  The Friends group works hard to promote the library, raise money for projects, and organize their yearly book sale, in addition to the HUGE amount of support they provide throughout the year.  Give us a call to find out the date of the next meeting!

Book Club Reminder: The book club meets the last Thursday of the month.  Their next meeting will be May 23rd at 7:00 in the Meinders Library conference room.  The book is Pipestone: My Life in an Indian Board School by Adam Fortunate Eagle.  Please don’t hesitate to call the library for a copy of the next book.

If you have questions or have a book you’d like to reserve or renew, please don’t hesitate to give us a call at (507) 825-6714.  The hours for Meinders Library are Monday through Thursday from 10 AM – 8 PM, and Friday and Saturday from 10 AM – 5 PM.  Meinders Community Library is located at 1401 7^th Street SW, on the south side of the high school.