'Spring's A Beautiful Time': Minnesotans Basking In Sunshine, Warm Weather
STILLWATER, Minn. (WCCO) -- It is days like today that make us thankful to live here in Minnesota.
After a long winter, it's finally safe to say spring is here. And we found plenty of people getting outside to enjoy the sunshine and warmer temps.
It's days like this where we remember exactly why we live here. And it's the perfect day to welcome a new member of the WCCO family. Christiane Cordero went to Stillwater for her first assignment.
Christiane came to Minnesota for her interview on a beautiful 50-degree day over St. Patrick's Day weekend and arrived for good about a week ago so as far as she's concerned the weather is perfect here.
As people kick off their weekend in Stillwater, winter remnants like the remaining snow remind us all: you've earned it.
A little bit of spring goes a long way in Stillwater, after the winter that Dewey and Jeanne Coerper thought would never end.
"What did we get? We got twelve inches of snow when we were supposed to go camping," Jeanne said.
Today's weather is a little more ideal for camping.
Good for working, too, if you're Wayne Prokosch. He's helping renovate the marina at Mulberry Point Harbor. His team is about two weeks behind -- or they were, until we showed up.
"Right, right. They delayed me another half an hour," Prokosch said.
The late freeze, late snow storm and some significant flooding pushed him behind schedule, but it's been pretty dry ever since, so today, he's playing catch up.
"For the most part most of the boaters are understanding and realize that the season is delayed a little bit on account of the below average temperatures of the year," Prokosch said.
Not that boaters have much to work with. The water level has pushed the St. Croix into a no-wake zone, keeping boats at 5 miles per hour or under. And keeping people opting to travel on foot or bike getting a good dose of spring, and even a little bit of summer.
"Hopefully we'll, I hate to say it, cool down a little bit. Spring's a beautiful time. Feels like we missed a little bit of spring weather, yeah," Tracy Decklever said.
It seems like we'll get a bit more spring-like temperatures in the next few days. As for the flood levels, the folks in that restaurant told us it's actually not as bad as years past. And despite what it looks like, it is open as people around here tend to make the most of whatever mother nature brings.
