Photos: St. Paul turns out for a chilly St. Patrick’s Day Parade
It was 14 degrees in St. Paul when Friday’s St. Patrick’s Day Parade rolled out from Rice Park in a merry procession of bagpipers, shamrocks and Irish wolfhounds marching to Mears Park.
With the windchill, Irish eyes must have been watering: It felt more like -3 degrees at noon, according to the Twin Cities office of the National Weather Service.
The chill factor means it’s the coldest parade since 1993, according to Belinda Jensen, Kare 11 meteorologist, in her weather report for the Pioneer Press.
But 1993 was not the coldest St. Patrick’s Day on record in St. Paul: That happened in 1941, when the high was 8 degrees and the low was -8, the NWS reports.
Many readers might recall the warmest St. Patrick’s Day: That happened in 2012, when it officially hit 80 degrees at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport.
If you attended the parade that day, you might also recall that it was very crowded.
On March 16, 2012, we wrote:
“Irish eyes were smiling in St. Paul on Saturday as thousands of people thronged downtown for the annual St. Patrick’s Day Parade. Undaunted by congestion — light-rail construction and Minnesota Wild game traffic made a parking spot rarer than a leprechaun’s pot of gold — fans lined up to see the floats, dancing troupes and bands. Perfect weather likely played a role in attracting the impressive crowds.”
This year? Crowds were strong for the parade and other downtown events — although the people were more bundled up than in 2012, This year? Crowds were strong for the parade and other downtown events — although the people were more bundled up than in 2012, when some people wore shorts and t-shirts.
