Geography and climate

Geography and climate

Main articles: Climate of Minnesota, Climate of the Twin Cities, and Geography of Minneapolis

View of downtown Minneapolis across Lake Calhoun (Bde Maka Ska)^[35]

The history and economic growth of Minneapolis are tied to water, the city's defining physical characteristic, which was brought to the region during the last ice age ten thousand years ago. Ice blocks deposited in valleys by retreating glaciers created the lakes of Minneapolis.^[36] Fed by a receding glacier and Lake Agassiz, torrents of water from a glacial river cut the Mississippi riverbed and created the river's only waterfall, Saint Anthony Falls, important to the early settlers of Minneapolis.^[37]
Lying on an artesian aquifer^[6] and flat terrain, Minneapolis has a total area of 58.4 square miles (151.3 km²) and of this 6% is water.^[38] Water supply is managed by four watershed districts that correspond to the Mississippi and the city's three creeks.^[39] Twelve lakes, three large ponds, and five unnamed wetlands are within Minneapolis.^[39]
The city center is located at 45° N latitude.^[40] The city's lowest elevation of 686 feet (209 m) is near where Minnehaha Creek meets the Mississippi River. The site of the Prospect Park Water Tower is often cited as the city's highest point^[41] and a placard in Deming Heights Park denotes the highest elevation. A spot at 974 feet (297 m) in or near Waite Park in Northeast Minneapolis, however, is corroborated by Google Earth as the highest ground.

Cityscape

The Minneapolis skyline seen from the Prospect Park Water Tower in July 2014

Climate

Lake Harriet frozen and snow-covered in winter

Minneapolis has a hot-summer humid continental climate zone (Dfa in the Köppen climate classification),^[42] typical of southern parts of the Upper Midwest, and is situated in USDA plant hardiness zone 4b, with small enclaves of the city classified as being zone 5a.^[43][44][45] As is typical in a continental climate, the difference between average temperatures in the coldest winter month and the warmest summer month is great: 60.1 °F (33.4 °C).
According to the NOAA, Minneapolis's annual average for sunshine duration is 58%.^[46]
The city experiences a full range of precipitation and related weather events, including snow, sleet, ice, rain, thunderstorms, and fog. The highest recorded temperature was 108 °F (42 °C) in July 1936 while the lowest was −41 °F (−41 °C) in January 1888. The snowiest winter of record was 1983–84, when 8.2 feet or 98.4 inches (250 cm) of snow fell,^[47] and the least snowy winter was 1890-91, when only 11.1 inches (28 cm) fell.^[48]

[show]Climate data for Minneapolis/St. Paul International Airport (1981–2010 normals,[a] extremes 1871–present)[b]