ST. PAUL, Minn., March 29 (UPI) -- With temperatures in the 50s Monday and no cold front in sight, Minnesota's Twin Cities are nearing their first snowless March in 132 years, officials say.

The last time the Minneapolis-St. Paul area went an entire March without a smidgen of snow was 1878, the St. Paul Pioneer Press reported. That's quite the anomaly for the northern metropolitan region that receives an average of 10.4 inches of snow in March. That's second only to January, which averages 13.5 inches in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area.


"We are definitely 10.4 inches short of normal for the month," said Pete Boulay, assistant state climatologist for the Minnesota State Climatology Working Group. "There hasn't been even a trace of snow reported."

Boulay said this March is stacking up as one of the 10 warmest on record, as well, with an average temperature of about 39 degrees. The warmest March came in 1910, when the month averaged 45 degrees.

"If you would have told me March 1 when we had a foot of snow on the ground that we would have lost it all by the 13th or 14th, I wouldn't have believed you," Boulay said. "It's interesting how persistent the warmth and balmy conditions have been."