Weather

Compared to the Northeast, MN doesn’t know snow

Bob CollinsBob Collins Jan 26, 2015
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Irv Rosenberg, of Boston, uses cross country skis on the Esplanade in Boston, Saturday, Jan. 24, 2015. A winter storm warning covering Boston and Hartford, Connecticut was in effect through 7 p.m. as the National Weather Service said to expect 4 to 8 inches of wet snow to fall by the time the storm moves out. (AP Photo/Michael Dwyer)

The snow hadn’t even started falling yet in the northeast’s “historic” snowstorm when Minnesotans and other Midwesterners were taking to Twitter to joke about the East’s ignorance of what to do when it snows.

In order to adopt this attitude, one has to forget that commuters in the Twin Cities took an hour to drive a couple of miles several weeks ago. Total snowfall that evening? A half inch.

Colleague Eamon Coyne — a Vermonter, for the record — sends along this season’s top 10 snow cities (of over 100,000 people) in the United States. Only one three — Rochester is the only Minnesota city — are from the Midwest.

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Last year, despite the Twin Cities’ 54 inches of snow, Minnesota was shut out for any bragging rights in a season dominated by Lake Erie.

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You’ll note Worcester, Mass. — about 40 miles outside of Boston — at No. 11. In 2012-13, they were No. 2 in the nation. St. Paul finished 12th. Minneapolis 13th.

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The last time the Twin Cities finished in the top 10 was 2010-2011, when St. Paul finished sixth, 1 inch more than Massachusetts. Minneapolis finished ninth that year, just ahead of Hartford, Conn.

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So far this winter, the Twin Cities has had only three storms of more than 3 inches.