How Is This Long Winter Affecting Minnesota?

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- With April snow, temperatures are lingering well below average.

You may be wondering what impact this weather will have on everything from mosquitoes to farming.

"It gives us a chance at the district to really get out there and prepare for the season," said Mike McLean.

McLean is with the Metropolitan Mosquito Control District.

He said a cold spring gives them time to get ready. They're still looking for workers so the longer mosquitoes stay dormant, the better.

There are 52 species of mosquitoes in Minnesota, and believe it or not, McLean said some prefer a little bit of a snow cover in the spring.

When it does eventually melt, that pool of water that forms gives them a head start.

"And as soon as the ground starts to melt those mosquitoes will start to hatch. So we are looking at early to mid-May when people will start seeing mosquitoes," said McLean.

Farmers are hoping they're in their fields long before then.

In most parts of the state there wasn't much for snow cover this winter. But that means there could be a few feet of frost in the ground. All of that has to melt before farmers can get in the field.

Ideally, they'd like to be planting by mid-April. The later they plant, the lower the yield. They need a warm-up, quickly.

"What we all want is for our highs to soar up into the 60s and 70s. That would be a worst-case scenario for flooding," said Chris Shaffer, WCCO meteorologist.

Shaffer said a rapid snow melt on frozen ground would raise the risk for flooding.

"This is almost ideal. Nobody likes that we are staying this cold but this is really good news for flooding because we will slowly melt things off with temperatures in the upper 30s and eventually the 40s, versus that rapid meltdown," said Shaffer.