Midwest is so warm that a Minnesota family installs in-ground pool in February
Minneapolis might break a record-high temperature on four consecutive days this week. The warmth will gradually spread east through the week, and by this weekend, it will be the mid-Atlantic looking at potential records as temperatures warm into the upper 50s and 60s.
St. Paul family installs in-ground pool in February amid mid-Minnesota winter
FOX 9 Minneapolis reporter Rob Olson showcases a St. Paul business taking advantage of the mild Minnesota winter by beginning summer preparations early.
ST. PAUL, Minn. – Winter temperatures this year in the Upper Midwest may make you want to ditch scarves and gloves for a pool party.
Minneapolis has had 15 consecutive days with highs above freezing at Minneapolis–Saint Paul International Airport. The city might break a record-high temperature on four consecutive days this week, potentially increasing the demand for pool installations.
The more Shawn Racine thought about installing a pool in the middle of a Minnesota winter, the more he wanted to do it.
"Let’s do this," he told FOX 9 in Minneapolis-St. Paul. "There’s no frost in the ground. Let’s give it a try!"
Racine is the owner of Superior Landscaping and a co-owner of a pool installation company called A Pool Day. He said pool installations usually start in April after the ground has thawed and snow has melted. Some people install pools during the winter just to say that they did it, but it's not the ideal time for installation.
"Well, almost bragging rights," he said. "Hey, we put a pool in February! Something to look back on."
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With temperatures above average so far this winter, one family is taking advantage of the circumstances – by installing a pool.
(FOX 9)
At first, Racine had planned to finish the project by the end of January, but due to some difficulties, the completion was pushed back until Monday when a customer in South St. Paul agreed to the project and was excited about the novelty of it.
"Even the city, that was pulling the permits and helping us with that process, they were really giddy, too," Racine said. "They were like, 'I can’t believe this is happening.'"
Racine said it is unusual to be able to work the ground in February, but this winter has been different – the frost hasn't been too deep.
On Monday, crews managed to dig the hole, hoist the fiberglass pool, trench in the plumbing and fill it with water – all in a single day. According to them, even scheduling the water truck was a breeze since they were not busy adding layers of ice to outdoor skating rinks.
"This kind of stuff in Minnesota doesn’t happen – we’re not putting pools in January and February," Racine said.
He officially did it this year with less than a month until meteorological spring.
Feels more like April than early February
Springlike warmth continues for parts of US with numerous record highs threatened
Arctic air will remain absent from the U.S. for the next two weeks as a ridge of high pressure parks itself over southern Canada and the jet stream floods the nation with mild air from the Pacific Ocean.
However, for anyone still hoping for winter, it's unlikely to happen. For the second straight week, warm air is locked in across much of the U.S. as a large ridge of high pressure over Canada keeps the jet stream and arctic air locked up near the North Pole.
More than 150 million people will feel above-average temperatures from the northern Rockies to the interior Northeast, the FOX Forecast Center said.
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For the second straight week, warm air is locked in across much of the U.S. as a large ridge of high pressure over Canada keeps the jet stream and arctic air locked up near the North Pole.
(FOX Weather)
The northern Plains and Upper Midwest will be in the bull's-eye of the warmth as high temperatures rise 20-30 degrees above average Tuesday. This will begin a stretch of five days in which multiple daily record highs will likely broken each day.
The warmth will gradually spread east through the week, and by this weekend, it will be the mid-Atlantic looking at potential records as temperatures warm into the upper 50s and 60s.
In other words, it feels more like April than early February.