The last time Lake Superior completely froze over was 30 years ago in 1996. Around that time, Lake Superior was consistently at least 75 percent frozen over. Now, 75 percent coverage is rare, only happening about once every four years.

Ice on the Great Lakes, and Lake Superior specifically, is a great way to measure climate for our region. MPR News chief meteorologist Paul Huttner spoke with UMD professor Jay Austin, about what ice coverage can tell us about climate change.

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In 2022, The State of Minnesota created their Climate Action Framework, a plan that sets a vision for how Minnesota will address and prepare for climate change. As of February 11th, the framework has been updated.

MPR News chief meteorologist Paul Huttner spoke with Heidi Roop, the Director of the University of Minnesota Climate Adaptation Partnership, which helped create the new framework, to talk about the new changes.

NOAA data shows that winters have warmed more than five degrees on average since 1970. And last two years were some of the warmest on record, dating back to the late 1880s.

But as the climate warms over decades, so do the 30-year averages for climate variables like temperature and precipitation. These new normals can mask the true magnitude of just how fast Minnesota is warming up.

MPR News chief meteorologist Paul Huttner spoke with MPR News meteorologist Sven Sundgaard to explain how these normals can be misleading.