By Jonathan Cohen 

Last week started stormy and cool but ended sunny and warm. For the week, Jonathan
Cohentemperatures were below average by 3 degrees. We just missed heavy snow, which blanketed a swath of Minnesota from the west central part of the state through the central and into the northeast portions.

The heaviest accumulation was almost 17 inches a little south of Duluth, while St. Cloud had close to 10 inches of heavy, wet snow. We did have the first clap of thunder of the year Thursday night with the snow.

It was a very windy week, with strong winds accompanying and following the storm and then again accompanying the warm weather at the end of the week. There was also some very low humidity following the big storm. With the warmup, this is common in April. Fortunately, there were no wildfires as the ground is still very moist.

The outlook is for somewhat cooler weather heading into the weekend, with a chance of showers. The weekend should see high temperatures return to the 60s before another cooldown early next week, which stands a better chance of being accompanied by rain. The cooldown should bring seasonal temperatures as no more cold weather or snow is in sight.

Smaller area lakes are seeing the ice go out, and it should also go out on Prior Lake in the next week.

Jonathan Cohen is the Prior Lake observer for the Scott County Soil and Water Conservation District.