The family of St. Paul installs an in-ground pool in February in the middle of the Minnesota winter
FOX 9 Minneapolis reporter Rob Olson profiles a St. Louis business. Paul taking advantage of Minnesota's mild winter by starting summer preparations early.
ST. PAUL, Minn. – Winter temperatures this year in the Upper Midwest may make you want to ditch the scarves and gloves for a pool party.
Minneapolis had 15 straight days with highs above freezing at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport. The city may break a record temperature for four consecutive days this week, potentially increasing demand for pool facilities.
The more Shawn Racine thought about installing a pool in the middle of a Minnesota winter, the more he wanted to do it.
“Let's do this,” he said FOX 9 in Minneapolis-St. Paul. “There's no frost on the ground. Let's try it!”
Racine owns Superior Landscaping and co-owns a pool installation company called A Pool Day. He said pool installations usually begin in April after the ground has thawed and the snow has melted. Some people install pools during the winter just to say they did it, but it's not the ideal time to install.
“Well, almost boastfully,” he said. “Hey, we put in a pool in February! Something to look back on.”
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With temperatures above average so far this winter, one family is taking advantage of the conditions – by installing a swimming pool. (FOX 9)
Originally, Racine had planned to complete the project by the end of January, but due to some difficulties, the completion was delayed until Monday, when a client on South St. Paul agreed to the project and was delighted with its innovation.
“Even the city, which was issuing the permits and helping us through this process, was also very confused,” Racine said. “They were like, 'I can't believe this is happening.'
Racine said it's unusual to be able to work the ground in February, but this winter was different – the frost wasn't very deep.
On Monday, crews were able to dig the hole, raise the fiberglass pool, cut the plumbing and fill it with water – all in one day. According to them, even scheduling the sea truck was a breeze since they weren't busy adding layers of ice to outdoor skating rinks.
“These things in Minnesota don't happen — we're not going to put in pools in January and February,” Racine said.
He officially made it this year with less than a month until meteorological spring.
It feels more like April than early February
Spring heat continues for parts of the US with many record highs threatened
Arctic air will stay away from the US for the next two weeks as a ridge of high pressure sits over southern Canada and the current floods the country with mild air from the Pacific Ocean.
However, for anyone still hoping for winter, it's unlikely to happen. For the second week in a row, warm air is locked in much of the US as a large ridge of high pressure over Canada keeps the jet stream and arctic air locked near the North Pole.
More than 150 million people will experience above-average temperatures from the northern Rockies to the interior Northeast, the FOX Forecast Center said.
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For the second week in a row, warm air is locked in much of the US as a large ridge of high pressure over Canada keeps the jet stream and arctic air locked near the North Pole. (FOX Weather)
The Northern Plains and Upper Midwest will be in the eye of the heat as high temperatures climb 20-30 degrees above average on Tuesday. This will begin a five-day stretch in which multiple daily record highs will likely be broken each day.
The heat will gradually spread east through the week, and by this weekend, the mid-Atlantic will be looking at potential records as temperatures climb into the upper 50s and 60s.
In other words, it feels more like April than early February.
