National Weather Service Weather Forecast Office

Below are some Black Friday weather statistics for La Crosse, WI and Rochester, MN. La Crosse, WI: The following statistics comprise 37 years of data. This data was gathered at La Crosse Regional Airport. No temperature data was available in 1985.

The odds of having precipitation on Black Friday is 45.9% (17 out of 37).  There has been measurable (0.01" or greater) precipitation on 10 Black Fridays and trace amounts (less than 0.01") of precipitation 7 Black Fridays.  It has snowed on 11 out of 37 (29.7%) Black Fridays.  Measurable snow (0.1" or greater) has fallen on 5 Black Fridays. The last time this occurred was back in 2005 when 3.0 inches of snow fell.  The last time there was any snow at all on a Black Friday was a trace in 2007.  Residents have woken up with measurable snow (half inch or greater) on the ground 9 times and trace amounts (less than a half inch) on 3 times.  The last time there was any snow at all on the ground on a Black Friday morning was back in 2000 when there was an inch.

Looking back at the 2011 Black Friday (November 25th), the high temperature was 54 degrees and the low temperature was 47 degrees.  No precipitation fell, and there was no snow on the ground.  The average wind speed was 23 mph.

Rochester, MN:

The following statistics comprise 38 years of data. This data has been gathered at Rochester International Airport.

The odds of having precipitation on Black Friday is 48.6% (18 out of 37).  There has been measurable (0.01" or greater) precipitation on 11 Black Fridays and trace amounts (less than 0.01") of precipitation 7 Black Fridays.  It has snowed on 14 out of 37 (37.8%) Black Fridays.  Measurable snow (0.1" or greater) has fallen on 7 Black Fridays. The last time this occurred was back in 2005 when 2.2 inches of snow fell.  The last time there was any snow at all on a Black Friday was 2.2 inches in 2005.  Residents have woken up with measurable snow (half inch or greater) on the ground 12 times and trace amounts (less than a half inch) on 4 times.  The last time there was any snow at all on the ground on a Black Friday morning was back in 2003 when there was a trace.

Looking back at the 2011 Black Friday (November 25th), the high temperature was 50 degrees and the low temperature was 44 degrees.  Four hundredths of an inch of rain fell and there was no snow on the ground.  The average wind speed was 15.9 mph.

The following weather events have occurred on Black Fridays in southeast Minnesota, northeast Iowa, and western Wisconsin:

• In 1991, Rochester, MN received 1.60 inches of rain.
• In 1993, Owen, WI received 6 inches of snow.