December 18th scene from my hometown area-Clayton,WI

Widespread Midwest warmth was in place today behind a strong warm front, and the lack of snowcover across the region allowed for temps to be amplified. Starting off in the upper teens this morning, highs locally were in the 40s and even some lower 50s in spots, which is more then 20 degrees above normal! There was no shortage of warmth even here in Western Wisconsin either, the high here at Clayton was 45.F! These temps were certainly not record breaking but it was definitely the warmest I’ve seen so late in December, It also must be noted that this is the latest I can remember seeing bare grass into December not only at Rochester but also at my hometown as well. The warmth and lack snowcover has even in fact lead to some slight greening of the grass around yards in Rochester, and some can also be seen in my photo above! The 1-3 inch snowcover that covered Southeastern Minnesota this morning did not have a chance, and was completely melted by days end. The NWS in La Crosse posted an interesting story on it showing the snowcover melting away from southern Minnesota by satellite! That story can be found here

 Local area highs reported.

The warmest temp found in the entire area was Preston which hit 51.F, The warmest in the Rochester area was inner city locations which managed lower 50s.