ST. LOUIS – Expect a warm up across the St. Louis metro area, with temperatures in the 70s by next week. It’s a big change from the recent frigid temps, as winter tries to keep us in its clutches.
As of 1 p.m. Wednesday, the temperature was 34 degrees, making for a very chilly midday and afternoon. But an upcoming pattern change will bring high probabilities of above normal temperatures over the next six to 10 days. You might have the temptation to think we’ve seen the last of the season’s bitter fury. But with St. Louis, you can never be sure!
The Midwest axiom of “don’t like the weather? wait a little while” still applies.
History, both recent and distant, tells us not to start stowing the big coats and sweaters or unwrapping your outdoor AC units.
We may be in Meteorological Spring (March, April, and May) but the season doesn’t officially start until the Spring Equinox on March 20.
Just last year, St. Louis observed its last recorded freeze of the winter season on March 19. The year before that, it was March 20. In each of the last two years, our latest highs in the 40s occurred in late April – 47 degrees on April 30, 2024, and 49 degrees on April 22, 2023, respectively.
When reviewing our coldest high temperatures for meteorological spring (March, April, May), St. Louis observed 15 degrees on March 4, 1960.
For the record “lowest high” for the month of April, you’d have go back many decades. St. Louis recorded 32 degrees exactly on three days: April 1, 1881, April 2, 1936, and April 3, 1886.
The record coldest high for the month of May was recorded on May 1, 1940, when St. Louis had a high temperature of only 43 degrees.
And it’s not just winter-like temperatures! St. Louis has seen its fair share of late snowfall, too.
The latest measurable snow (greater or equal to 0.1″) happened on May 2, 1929, when St. Louis was hit with four inches of powder. The latest recorded trace amount of snow— less than a tenth of an inch—occurred on May 8, 1923.
In more recent memory, St. Louis recorded 0.6″ on April 1, 2018 (Easter Sunday) and 1.3″ on March 13, 2017.
Of course, that all pales in comparison to the infamous Palm Sunday Snowstorm of 2013, when Mother Nature dumped 12.7″ of snow on St. Louis.