On Tuesday of this week, the temperature reached 70 degrees in Fergus Falls, Minn., for the first time this spring. The day before, it had been 76 degrees in Minneapolis.
Here in Fargo-Moorhead, the temperature has scratched its way up into the 60s a couple of times, but that first 70-degree day has eluded us so far.
The source for warmth is the sun. But sunlight is not an efficient heater of the air. Instead, sunlight warms the ground, and the heat from the ground heats the air. In our area, this process has been inhibited this spring by the ground being covered with snow and, more recently, by cold water.
Once the melt water surrounding our cities is finally gone, our soils will be able to warm up and do a better job of heating the air. Unfortunately, the current weather pattern is likely to keep supplying us with cool air from the north and lots of cloudiness. We will likely have to wait quite awhile longer for our turn at 70 degrees.
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