Has winter ghosted us?

With winter events being canceled while golf courses are opening — in January, in Minnesota — it certainly feels that way.

“Record highs are looking to be all but a certainty today, with warmest highs ever observed in the month of Jan within reach,” the Twin Cities office of the National Weather Service reported early Wednesday on X (formerly Twitter). “After today it will be cooler, but highs in the 40s will still be nearly 20 degrees above normal!”

(Courtesy of National Weather Service Twin Cities)

The forecast high for Wednesday is 54, although the weather service reports the range of possibilities from 48 to 58 degrees.

The current recorded all-time high for Jan. 31 in the Twin Cities stands at 46 degrees reached in both 2009 and 1995.

We will surely surpass that record today, but we could also exceed the warmest January temperature on record for the metro, which was 58 degrees set 80 years ago on Jan. 25, 1944.

This strange winter is impacting events and traditions in the Twin Cities.

Earlier this week, Dodge Nature Center announced it was canceling its upcoming Winter Fun Fest, scheduled for Feb. 17 at the main property in West St. Paul.

“Our decision to cancel this event is due to unseasonably warm weather and a forecast with little precipitation and barely freezing temperatures,” the nonprofit announced.

However, the public can still visit the nature center’s four locations, where the trails are free to use from sunrise to sunset every day, all year.

Or, the public can go golfing.

While courses are typically buried under snow this time of year, that is not the case now. Emerald Greens Golf Course in Hastings is one of the courses open this week.

The announcement on Monday sparked joy on social media, with plenty of likes and sharing.

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