Because Thanksgiving Day occurs at the transition period between autumn and winter, Thanksgiving weather can be balmy to brutal. A typical Thanksgiving Day in the Twin Cities has high temperatures in the 30's and at least a bit of filtered sunshine.

Having a mild day in the 50's on Thanksgiving Day is relatively rare, looking at the historical record back to 1891. A maximum of 50 or more has happened only nine times in 114 years, or about once every 13 years or so. The warmest Thanksgiving Day is a tie of 62 degrees set in 1914 and 1922. The mildest recent Thanksgiving Day is 58 degrees on November 26, 1998.

On the other side of the spectrum, it is common to have a high temperature below 32. The average Thanksgiving Day temperature is right around freezing. What about extremely cold Thanksgivings? It is about as likely to have a minimum at or below zero on Thanksgiving Day, as it is to have a maximum of 50 or above. It has occurred eight times in the past 114 years. The coldest Thanksgiving Day temperature is eight degrees below zero. This has happened three times, 1893, 1905 and 1985.

Measurable snow fell on 24 of the past Thanksgivings back to 1891, about every five years or so. The most snow that fell on Thanksgiving was five inches in 1970.

Historically, about half of Thanksgivings have at least one inch of snow on the ground. The deepest snow pack is a tie with 1921 and 1983, both with 10 inches on the ground by Turkey Day.

It occasionally rains on Thanksgiving Day as well. In 1896, a two-day event in the Twin Cities doused Thanksgiving travelers with nearly three inches of rain.

Here are Thanksgiving Day Climatology statistics for other areas in the region.
La Crosse and Rochester
Duluth
Sioux Falls

Year by year climatology for Thanksgiving Day for the Twin Cities 1891-2005

Year	Month	Day	High	Low	precip	snow	snow depth
1891	11	26	26	13	T	T	M
1892	11	24	26	6	0.00	0.0	M
1893	11	30	12	-8	0.07	0.8	M
1894	11	29	30	12	0.00	0.0	M
1895	11	28	37	27	T	0.0	M
1896	11	26	49	30	1.76	0.0	M
1897	11	25	31	22	0.05	0.7	M
1898	11	24	12	-7	0.00	0.0	M
1899	11	30	41	32	0.01	0.0	0
1900	11	29	35	15	0.00	0.0	2
1901	11	28	48	23	0.00	0.0	0
1902	11	27	34	19	T	T	T
1903	11	26	18	0	0.00	0.0	T
1904	11	24	38	32	0.00	0.0	0
1905	11	30	16	-8	0.00	0.0	5
1906	11	29	39	26	0.04	T	0
1907	11	28	35	23	0.00	0.0	0
1908	11	26	36	26	T	T	T
1909	11	25	39	34	0.00	0.0	T
1910	11	24	46	29	0.00	0.0	0
1911	11	30	37	20	0.00	0.0	4
1912	11	28	42	16	0.00	0.0	T
1913	11	27	43	37	0.01	0.0	0
1914	11	26	62	31	0.00	0.0	0
1915	11	25	45	34	0.00	0.0	T
1916	11	30	42	24	0.00	0.0	0
1917	11	29	36	27	T	0.0	T
1918	11	28	37	28	T	0.5	1
1919	11	27	13	5	0.05	1.2	2
1920	11	25	32	30	T	T	T
1921	11	24	24	17	0.00	T	10
1922	11	30	62	24	0.44	0.0	0
1923	11	29	46	29	0.00	0.0	0
1924	11	27	28	17	0.01	0.1	T
1925	11	26	39	16	0.00	0.0	0
1926	11	25	36	27	0.08	0.0	1
1927	11	24	40	26	0.00	0.0	1
1928	11	29	30	22	T	T	0
1929	11	28	12	-4	T	T	T
1930	11	27	7	-3	T	T	3
1931	11	26	31	17	0.02	0.0	0
1932	11	24	50	21	0.00	0.0	0
1933	11	30	47	28	0.00	0.0	0
1934	11	29	32	28	0.00	0.0	0
1935	11	28	19	8	0.04	0.6	1
1936	11	26	19	16	T	1.5	1
1937	11	25	43	35	T	0.0	0
1938	11	24	19	7	T	T	0
1939*	11	30	60	24	0.00	0.0	0
1940	11	21	34	28	0.28	T	T
1941	11	20	34	24	T	T	0
1942	11	26	22	12	T	0.2	1
1943	11	25	36	28	T	0.0	0
1944	11	23	35	31	0.02	0.2	0
1945	11	22	21	14	0.06	1.2	1
1946	11	28	38	17	0.00	0.0	0
1947	11	27	20	5	0.03	1.2	7
1948	11	25	39	32	0.05	0.4	0
1949	11	24	27	23	T	T	1
1950	11	23	16	-5	0.02	0.2	2
1951	11	22	24	11	0.00	0.0	0
1952	11	27	14	4	T	T	9
1953	11	26	31	20	T	T	0
1954	11	25	30	23	0.00	0.0	0
1955	11	24	31	7	0.00	0.0	1
1956	11	22	17	8	0.00	0.0	3
1957	11	28	29	21	T	0.0	1
1958	11	27	18	2	T	T	0
1959	11	26	26	11	0.00	0.0	0
1960	11	24	45	28	0.00	0.0	0
1961	11	23	39	24	T	T	0
1962	11	22	33	20	T	0.0	0
1963	11	28	48	28	T	T	0
1964	11	26	23	7	T	T	1
1965	11	25	37	28	0.01	T	0
1966	11	24	42	32	0.06	0.0	0
1967	11	23	39	16	T	T	0
1968	11	28	35	20	0.00	0.0	0
1969	11	27	26	17	0.00	T	0
1970	11	26	32	12	0.31	5.0	1
1971	11	25	33	30	0.22	2.6	3
1972	11	23	38	16	0.00	0.0	0
1973	11	22	45	27	0.00	0.0	0
1974	11	28	27	15	T	T	0
1975	11	27	28	12	0.00	0.0	4
1976	11	25	42	29	0.09	0.7	0
1977	11	24	16	6	0.13	1.7	3
1978	11	23	28	24	0.05	0.9	8
1979	11	22	35	33	0.16	1.5	2
1980	11	27	40	22	0.00	0.0	0
1981	11	26	37	31	0.16	0.9	3
1982	11	25	36	19	T	T	0
1983	11	24	25	14	T	T	10
1984	11	22	40	21	0.00	0.0	0
1985	11	28	11	-8	0.08	2.2	5
1986	11	27	47	24	0.00	0.0	0
1987	11	26	32	26	0.00	T	0
1988	11	24	52	35	0.00	0.0	0
1989	11	23	18	2	0.01	0.1	5
1990	11	22	50	27	0.00	0.0	0
1991	11	28	23	10	0.00	0.0	6
1992	11	26	34	22	T	T	0
1993	11	25	33	20	0.45	4.3	2
1994	11	24	48	28	0.00	0.0	0
1995	11	23	20	9	0.00	0.0	0
1996	11	28	31	17	0.00	0.0	9
1997	11	27	45	29	0.00	0.0	1
1998	11	26	58	28	0.00	0.0	0
1999	11	25	47	30	0.00	0.0	0
2000	11	23	29	16	0.00	0.0	1
2001	11	22	55	36	0.00	0.0	0
2002	11	28	45	19	0.00	0.0	0
2003	11	27	33	24	0.04	0.0	4
2004	11	25	34	22	T	  T	T
2005	11	24	21	11	0.00	0.0	0
2006	11	23	54	29	0.00	0.0	0

*Note, it appears as though Minnesota, having Republican Harold Stassen as Governor, did not follow Democrat Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s Proclamation to have Thanksgiving on the third Thursday in November in 1939. That year Minnesota celebrated Thanksgiving on November 30. The Governor seemed to have a change of heart for the next two years and went with Roosevelt’s recommendation and had Thanksgiving on November 21 in 1940 and November 20 in 1941.

The U.S. Congress in 1941 established that the Thanksgiving would occur annually on the fourth Thursday of November, which is sometimes the last Thursday and sometimes the next to last. On November 26, 1941 President Roosevelt signed this bill into U.S. law. This is when the holiday is still observed today.

Return to Minnesota Climatology Working Group Main page

URL: http://climate.umn.edu/doc/journal/thanks0611.htm
Last modified: November 22, 2006