There is a stark contrast between the 2022-23 winter season and what the Northland is experiencing this year. We have seen a fraction of the snowfall, higher temperatures, and drier conditions.
Last year brought Superior, Wis., and Duluth, Minn., a record-setting snowfall of 140.1 inches, according to the National Weather Service, compared to the 2023-24 winter season, which has only accumulated a few inches of snow up to calendar spring on Mar. 19.
These changes are due to El Niño, which the United States Geological Survey (USGS) describes when sea temperatures are warmer than usual in the central and eastern tropical Pacific Ocean.
Unusually warm winters can have devastating effects on the summers that follow. According to Dr. Andy Breckenridge, a professor in the Natural Sciences Department at the University of Wisconsin-Superior, these effects can be detrimental and even dangerous, such as the increased risk of wildfires.
“It’s been warm, and we haven’t had much snow, so we’re going to have a very early thaw…and it will have changes like birds will arrive sooner (from the south). But we won’t have leaf-out, so we’ll have a longer potential season for wildfires, kind of like what’s going on in Texas right now,” said Breckenridge. “Right now, they’re having the largest fire in Texas ever, and their fire season started earlier this year. Does that necessarily mean we’re (in the Midwest) going to have wildfires this year? No; it depends on whether we get rainfall.”
Breckenridge also discussed the topic of insects that usually die during the deep freezes typically associated with northern Wisconsin and Minnesota’s harsh winters. During an El Niño season, these species survive and then wreak havoc on the ecosystem come summer.
“Usually, when we think about insects, the one that we pay a lot of attention to is the Emerald Ash Borer. Those really cold snaps in the winter will knock down Emerald Ash Borer, that are wiping out our Ash trees. Given that we never had temperatures cold enough to kill any, I would expect that they are going to do well this summer,” Breckenridge said.
The dry weather of this winter season has sent many states into an early drought season, even in the Midwest. “There was a Red Flag warning down in Iowa last week…we have a bit of a drought, too, in northern Wisconsin and Minnesota, if you
look at the Drought Index,” said Breckenridge, referring to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
A Red Flag Warning, also known as a Fire Weather Warning, means that the National Weather Service has determined that fire danger exists and weather patterns that support fire could occur within the next 24 hours.
It’s unlikely, but it wouldn’t be out of the question for the Twin Ports to receive a large snowfall in late March or even April and offset some of the negative reverberations. Last year’s record was set in late April, and it still snowed for some time after that as reported by the Duluth News Tribune.
