2024 had a roller coaster of weather in the Northland, from record-breaking warmth to flooding and tornadoes.

The year began quietly with only an inch of snow on the ground on January 1st. The lack of snow meant dry conditions for most of the Northland. In early January, 12% of Minnesota and 16.8% of Wisconsin had severe drought conditions. This led to the cancellation of the beloved John Beargrease Sled Dog Marathon.

RELATED: Canceled Beargrease called heart-wrenching

Dry conditions continued in February as Duluth only got one-third of its normal amount of precipitation. The average temperature in February was 11.9 degrees above normal. On February 5th, Duluth set a daily record high of 50 degrees. Ski resorts struggled to stay open, and the course of the Birkie was altered.

The only big snowstorm of the spring came in March. Duluth had 16.9 inches of snow March 24-26, which helped the drought conditions. With only a tenth of an inch of snow in April, the season snowfall total was 38.7 inches, making it the second least-snowiest winter on record. The average season snowfall in Duluth is 90.2 inches.

While there was not much snow, there was rain this spring. April showers brought May flowers and helped with the drought conditions. By late June, there was no drought reported in Minnesota or Wisconsin.

All eyes were on the skies nationwide in late spring as the eclipse passed over on April 8th. It was cloudy for most of the Northland during the eclipse, but the skies were clear for a dazzling northern lights show on May 10th.

Temperatures were near normal in June, but nothing else was. On June 12, numerous severe thunderstorms moved across north-central and northeast Minnesota, producing baseball-sized hail, wind damage, and several tornadoes.

RELATED: Hail and storm damage reports for June 12

Less than a week later, another round of storms moved across the Northland, this time with flash flooding. This was the second-largest natural disaster in St. Louis County in the last three decades. Governor Walz visited the area and requested a Federal Disaster Declaration, which was approved by the Biden administration. There was also a confirmed tornado on the ground near Cotton, MN.

After a crazy two weeks of severe weather in June, July was much quieter. There were 13 days in a row with less than a tenth of an inch of rain in Duluth. The monthly rainfall was 34% of normal.

Rainfall was close to normal in August, but we began seeing dry conditions return by the end of the month. September had just over a quarter of an inch of rain in the entire month. The normal monthly rainfall is 3.48 inches, so this was a deficit of 3.15 inches. That means that the rainfall was 8.9% of normal.

September was also a warm month. The average temperature was 7.2 degrees above normal. Daily record highs were set on the 18th, 26th, 27th, and 28th as temperatures climbed to the low 80s. There was also an active weather night on the 19th as a tornado touched down in Cotton for the second time in 2024.

RELATED: Family farm damaged by EF-1 tornado

Temperatures continued to stay warmer than normal in October and November. It was Duluth’s second warmest fall on record.

The first snow of the season fell on Halloween with 1.6 inches in Duluth. As temperatures swung back up, Duluth set a daily record rainfall on November 19th with 1.31 inches. Temperatures finally started to cool by the end of the month as we had 3.5 inches of snow on the 25th.

December had a memorable cold stretch with a reported wind chill of -42 degrees on the 12th. The high for that day was -3 degrees.

The pendulum swung again by the end of the month with rain and fog after Christmas. December ended up being 2.9 degrees warmer than normal. Precipitation was 92% of normal.

All in all, the 2024 precipitation was 90% of normal at 28.01 inches.

Temperatures were above normal every single month of the year. The annual monthly mean average temperature set a new record with 44.6 degrees.

The 2023 Year in Review: Weather Edition can be found at this link.