What Minnesota's old weather logs tell about this fall's extreme temperature swings

MINNEAPOLIS -- A temperature seesaw brought record heat earlier this week, but now temps are closer to average. 

The all-time November high in the Twin Cities is 77 degrees. According to a log kept in the University of Minnesota's climate library, which stores logs dating back to the late 1880s, it was on Nov. 1, 1933. The Twin Cities neared that record when it topped out on Wednesday at 76.

Climatologist Pete Boulay says this year's seesaw-like fall weather is not much of an exception, as it is perhaps a rule.

"The records of Minnesota, especially in November, it's hot and cold," said Boulay. "The Halloween Blizzard, one of those classic cases where a few days before was fairly balmy."

Minnesota has also been struggling with a drought this year, and Boulay says the state would need more than 100 inches of snow to make up the deficit. 

The record for most snow in a Twin Cities winter is 98.6 inches, which was back in the 1980s.