By Jonathan Cohen 

Last week started cool but turned warm on Sunday, April 20 and stayed that way the rest of the week as we saw the first 70s of the year.Jonathan
Cohen

For the week, temperatures were above average by more than 3 degrees. Last week saw frequent rainfall, but we missed the heavy rain that fell with the first general thunderstorm of the season on Monday night, April 21. That day marked the ice going out of upper Prior Lake and perhaps lower Prior Lake, as well, though that might have occurred in the early morning hours of Tuesday, April 22.

In any case, this was the latest ice-out in my 25 years here, breaking the previous record of April 20, set in 1996. The last trace of snow also disappeared last week, on April 17. We had had some snow on the ground continuously since the beginning of December, which was an unusually long period for recent years.

The outlook is for a stormy week with much cooler weather arriving by the weekend. It has been unusually cool to our west lately as Great Falls, Montana saw 15 inches of snow over the weekend, followed by a low of minus 8 degrees. The arrival of this cool air here will drop highs back into the 40s, and lows could drop below freezing. This means that rain could turn to snow; a small accumulation is possible even here and will be likely further north and west in Minnesota.

Temperatures should moderate by the middle of next week, but no more 70s are in sight, and maybe not even 60s.

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