Frozen, Snowy Thanksgiving Week Reverses Mild and Dry November

Saint Cloud November 2025 Weather Summary

St. Cloud, MN was well on the way to another very warm and dry month through the first 3 weeks of November, with one high of even freezing or colder and only one low colder than 20 degrees. That included a record-tying high of 68 degrees on November 14 and a record-breaking high of 56 on November 23. There was only 0.01 inch of precipitation through November 24. This was caused by a split storm track with the southern track producing the major rainfall along the West Coast and from the Gulf of Mexico and the Southern Plains into the Ohio and Tennessee River Valleys (see NWS Water Prediction Service map of November Continental US precipitation). So, the air mass over Minnesota was often air that was warmed by its descent along the eastern slopes of the Rockies, producing near average low temperatures, but well above average high temperatures.

However, the two storm tracks worked together during Thanksgiving week, producing two major snowstorms affecting at least parts of Minnesota, which fouled Thanksgiving travel in many places (see also the NWS Twin Cities summary of the snowstorm pair). In between and after the storms, the temperature dipped below freezing on the evening of November 25 and remained no warmer than 27 degrees for the rest of the month. That included the first low of zero or colder on November 30.

The final result was a November that had an average temperature of 34.0 degrees, still 3.1 degrees above normal. So, November 2025 was the 38th warmest out of the 145 Novembers in St. Cloud records. The past month ran the current streak of warmer than average monthly temperatures to 30 of the past 31 months (since April 2023, every month except February 2025).

Heavy Thanksgiving Week Precipitation Couldn't Push November to Average

The two heavy snowfalls pushed the November 2025 melted precipitation total to 0.96 inches, but that was still 0.41 inch below average. Statewide, only eastern (including the Iron Range and the Lake Superior shore) and southern Minnesota had above average precipitation during November (dark green and yellow areas on the NWS Water Prediction Service monthly map for November).

During our dry period from August through November, the St. Cloud Sky Harbor Airport has only received 5.64 inches of precipitation, the 10th lowest August-November total on record and the least since 2012 (see table below).

Two last week of November storms (4.8 inches on November 25-26 and 3.2 inches on November 29-30) ended up producing 8.0 inches of snow at St. Cloud State University. While this snowfall was merely 1.1 inches above the average, it was only the 4th November since 2004 with at least 8 inches of snow. Between 1981 and 2010, St. Cloud had averaged 9.2 inches of November snow, included more than two feet (25.0 inches) in 1983 and 21.3 inches in 1991 (the year of the Halloween Blizzard). 7 of the 10 snowiest Novembers occurred between 1974 and 2014. So, there has been a trend towards less November snow in recent years. The Minnesota DNR has a report about the recent change in Thanksgiving weather.

There is a chance that some of the current snowpack could seep into the ground, since the ground hadn't completely frozen before our pair of late November snows. The usual case is nearly all of the water within the snow pack will run off directly into streams and rivers, since the frozen ground doesn't allow penetration. So, this rainfall shortage will have to be made up after the ground thaws in the spring.

The potential long streak of days with temperatures below freezing is usually a good sign for ice to form. However, the ground hadn't frozen before the snow, so the relatively warm ground temperatures as well as initially warm lake temperatures could cause problems. The relatively warm ground temperatures underneath the snow pack will be one factor preventing good ice to form. The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources has a general guide for safety in varying ice thickness. Note that 272 people have died since 1976 in Minnesota after falling through ice.

Fall 2025 Summary

Meteorological fall (September 1-November 30) ended up with an average temperature of 50.1 degrees, 4.7 degrees warmer than average. That meant that fall 2025 tied 2023 for the 8th mildest fall in St. Cloud records. Note that the last 4 falls have each placed within the 11 warmest fall. The total precipitation was 3.85 inches, 2.85 inches below average, making 2025 the 26th driest fall on record. The length of the season without a frost (low of 32 degrees or colder) and without a freeze (low of 28 degrees or colder) was less than 2 weeks above average, since the last frost and freeze of the season were within a week of average and the first freeze of the fall was nearly average (see table below).

November 2025 Statistics

Last Update: 2 December 2025