Historical Memorial Day Holiday Weekend Weather in the Twin Cities
Beginning in the late-1860's, Memorial Day was traditionally observed on May 30 (at least in northern states). The congressionally-mandated Memorial Day holiday weekend (last Monday in May) commenced in 1971. The investigation was limited to the period of time since the formal designation of the Memorial Day holiday weekend (40 years of data, 1971-2010). Memorial Day can occur as early as May 25 and as late as May 31. Given the fact that the dates of the holiday weekend float about, don't put too much stock in the climatological significance of the statistics offered below. However, the numbers are fun to mull over. It appears that Memorial Day is often the nicest day of the weekend.
Twin Cities Memorial Day Weekend Weather (1971 - 2010, 40 years)
Memorial Day Weekend
Fri. Sat. Sun. Mon.
Mean Maximum Temperature (F) 71.4 71.3 71.1 72.2
High Maximum Temperature (F) 96 92 97 94
(year) 1978 1988 2006 2006
Low Maximum Temperature (F) 49 54 53 49
(year) 1987 1996 1995 1992
Mean Minimum Temperature (F) 52.4 52.5 53.7 52.1
Low Minimum Temperature (F) 39 36 39 39
(year) 1979 1974 1992 1993
Greatest Rainfall 1.56 2.17 1.10 1.09
(year) 1975 1978 1975 1977
% of days with measurable rain 38% 45% 45% 28%
% of days with any rain 58% 55% 55% 48%
(measurable or trace)