What a difference a week makes when it comes to weather in the Northland! People seem to be out and about a bit more lately, with some spring in their steps.

We started off the month of February as the coldest on record as we were stuck in a deep freeze for 13 days in a row, but it felt like forever.

With many people itching to get outside, we hit high temperatures in the upper 30s to low 40s on Tuesday! It had many jumping for joy!

"It’s crazy and it's awesome! I just love this weather and don't want any more deep freezes! I’m done with that!" laughed Eric Johnson who was visiting Canal Park in the heat wave.

"It's been awesome, it's hard to get outside and get these little guys all bundled up. So it's been really nice to be able to get out in the warm weather with the family! Look, no gloves!" explained Katie Van Abel who was visiting from Rochester.

It was only seven days ago we dropped to 22 below zero.

"It did feel like forever, it's super hard to run when it's icy out." said Willow Munson a Duluth resident that recently moved up here from Pennsylvania. 

But today in this heat wave, everyone is running again, walking their dogs, kids playing around and tossing snowballs into the lake. Families are really taking advantage of the time outside together.
 
"It's just feels so good to be outside with the pandemic and to get fresh air and to feel like I’m in normal space again." explained Karen Stevensen who was visiting from St. Paul.

Jackets were unzipped, snow boots were replaced with gym shoes, it’s almost hard to believe that we just experienced a 60 degree temperature swing in one short week!
 
"I’d say that's pretty typical for Minnesota, it's like a heat wave! And it’s oh so nice, compared to the prior past few weeks... This is balmy!” laughed Kim Gorter, who was here with her Mother Marlene Block celebrating her 80th birthday. “Couldn’t of asked for any better weather today!”
 
Munsen said, "It's kind of like eating a big piece of chocolate cake! You love it at the time, it feels so good. I was just running along the lake walk and enjoying it. But you know all the snow is going to melt and it's just going to be horrible for the next couple months. Because I also love cross country and downhill skiing. So this weather is really going to screw that up.”

She's right, the snow is melting and revealing the grass below, what was once a hard snowpack is now slush. And even agate hunters were out at the lake as all of the rocks are were no longer frozen together. 

This week’s temperatures will remain above average and another warm day is expected again on Friday.

For the anglers thinking about going on Lake Superior to ice fish this week, it’s recommended that you choose another inland lake. Monday, there was ice in the canal and by Tuesday, it was gone. With the current and open water pushing on the ice sheet, it will likely drift away soon or melt too thin to be safe on. 

At Canal Park they were making announcements to people walking out on to the ice, telling them that it is not safe and to come back. Despite the warnings, one man wandered out to the lighthouse anyways and was quickly brought back by Canal Park workers.

"It’s really tough to deny that we are having some warming trends." said Bill Stapp who was visiting Canal Park from Wascott, Wisconsin.

Some are worried about the current warm spell.

"I’ll be honest it makes me nervous. Because it's a little bit too warm. And the whole winter has been too warm. Even the last 10 or 15 winters have been too warm. So I’m like anyone else that likes to enjoy the warm weather but we better deal with how fast things are changing." urged Grant Stevenson from St. Paul. “I have grandchildren, at the rate that we are warming, I don’t think that climate change is in the future, we are experiencing it now. If you are from California, the Gulf Coast, and Carolina’s you already know exactly what we are talking about. Even when people call it the new normal, it’s not the new normal. It’s where we are right now and it’s actually getting worse. I think it’s time to pull together like it’s a major deal, because it is.”

To see the original report and read related stories, follow this link to the WDIO-TV website.  https://www.wdio.com/weather/warm-weather-heat-wave-northland-outdoors-canal-park/6021757/?cat=10335