- By John Smith, Education Program Assistant, Will Steger Foundation

Harmony ALC high school students braved a field trip to Fort Snelling State Park on May 5th,amidst threat of rain and snow to observe and inquire about the impacts of climate change on the Mississippi River. The event was another part of the Parks Climate Challenge, a partnership between Fort Snelling State Park, the Mississippi River Fund, the Mississippi National River and Recreation Are and the Will Steger Foundation

Thanks, Harmony ALC for a great field trip! Here are some of the highlights:

Weather observations:

• Air temperature ranged from: 34-38 degrees (f)
• 3" of measured precipitation (some snow!)
• Barometric pressure: 29.7 in/Hg
• Wind speed: 2-7mph
• Clouds: 100% coverage of cirrostratus clouds

Phenology observations:

• Buds visible, but not open
• Some migratory birds passing through, including geese
• Now flowers present (yet!)

See up to the minute data from the Fort Snelling Weather Station!

- By John Smith, Education Program Assistant, Will Steger Foundation

It snowed 4.5 inches the morning of April 23rd, when 60 students from Washington Technology Magnet School came on a field trip to Fort Snelling State Park.  The visit, one of many this spring as a continuation of the Parks Climate Challenge (PCC), was focused on learning about the climate change on the Mississippi River and all those things that rely on it (including us!)

Throughout the morning, the light snow made cardinals look like bright red torches in otherwise quiet, white trees.  The footprints of wild turkey traversed our walking paths like an olympic slalom skiier.  As the snow began to melt, it was bittersweet, but relieving: Minnesotans feel have waited long enough for the sun and flowers we look for this time of year.

Weather observations:

  - Air temperature ranged from: 32 - 43 degrees (f)

  - Precipitation: 4.5 inches of snow overnight (.65 inches if melted)

  - Barometric pressue: 29.4 - 29.6 in/hg

  - Wind speed: 2 mph, out of the east

  - Cloud cover: 10-20% cover of cirrus (fibratus) in the AM, 45% cover of altocumulous in the PM.

  - River temperature: 37 degrees (f)

Phenology observations:

  - Snow! (perhaps the last of the season?)

  - Songs of migratory birds, waterfoul present

  - Buds present and small

See up to the minute data from the Fort Snelling Weather Station!

Author: Tim, Grade 8, Murray Junior High

Location: Como Woodland Outdoor Classroom

Weather: Cloudy and COLD!!!!

Temp. = -14 degrees C
Snow depth = 33 mm

It was delightful to share a day at Fort Snelling State Park with the 5th and 6th graders of the Friends School of Minnesota on Novermber 8th.  Students and their teachers explored the day's weather and phenology, discussed climate change and solutions to it, and performed a service project for the park removing invasive buckthorn.  The trip was part of the Parks Climate Challenge and compliments the climate and weather sciences taught during their year at school.  Here are some of the things we found together ...

Phenology Observations:

• White-tailed deer! Male ("buck") deer were seen with large racks of antlers and grazing on buds and twigs.
• We found a yearling garter snake that was about to shed its skin - when do they start hibernating?
• The few remaining green leaves were mostly buckthorn - of which there are fewer now thanks to the folks at the Friends School!

Weather Observations:

• Temperature: 55-60 degrees (f) - which is nearly 10 degrees warmed than the historic normal high temperature of 49 degrees (MN Weatherguide Calendar)
• Barometric Pressure: 29.2 - 29.5 in/Hg
• Wind Speed: 2-8 mph
• Cloud cover: 80% cumulous in the morning.  Changed to 5-30% by the afternoon and cirrus.
• River temperature was approximately 44 degrees (f)

See up-to-the-minute weather data from the Fort Snelling State Park weather station!

On October 22nd, Open World Learning Community students visited Fort Snelling State Park for a morning of doing phenology, and studying weather and climate.  Each student also engaged in a service project removing invasive buckthorn, improving the beauty and health of the park ecosystem.  

Their Phenology observations included:

• Leaves past peak color and falling
• Marks of male deer rubbing on trees ("buck rub")

They collected the following weather data:

• Temperature: 60-67 degrees (f)
• Historic HIGH temp: 55 degrees (f)
• Historic LOW temp: 38 degrees (f)
• Barometric pressure: 29.5 in/Hg
• Precipitation: 0" (on this day it was reported that 100% of MN was in drought)
• Wind speed: 0-7 mph
• Cloud Cover: 80-100% stratus clouds
• River level: 687 feet above sea level

The field trip was part of the Parks Climate Challenge, a national project to improve climate literacy through experiences in national parks.  Fort Snelling State Park qualifies as it is within part the Mississippi National River and Recreation Area (MNRRA).  The program is administered nationally by the National Parks Foundation and locally it is implemented through a partnership of the Will Steger Foundation, Mississippi River Fund, MNRRA and Fort Snelling State Park.

Students from Bloomington Lutheran explored weather and climate and how we can use phenology to observe changes in the climate on Friday October 12th at Fort Snelling State Park.  The field trip was organized as part of the Parks Climate Challenge to supplement the weather and climate science the 6th and 7th graders have been learning at school and using Minnesota's Changing Climate curriculum. 

Weather data collected by the students:

• The temperature changing from 49 - 66 degrees (F) throughout the day.  Historically, October average temperatures range from 40 - 58 degrees (F). 
• The barometric pressure was 29.7 in/Hg (which is pronounced "inches of Mercury"). 
• No precipitation was occurring or had occurred the night before. 
• Wind speed changed from 0 mph to 13 mph as the day went on.
• There were almost no clouds in the sky!

Phenology events collected by the students:

• Native trees changing colors and falling leaves
• Seagulls, geese and ducks were observed on the water

Weather data for Fort Snelling state park is available online: 

1. http://www.rangeroncall.com/misc/weather.html
2. or http://www.weatherlink.com/user/miss/

Author: Keenen, Grade 9, Washington Technology Magnet School

Location: St. Paul, MN

Weather: Cloudy, really sunny, cool, windy

saw a lot of things in the forest today , I saw things like birds , trees , branches and spiders the weather made it easier to see the smaller things in the trees. Like all of the ants and spiders.

Author: Sheng, Grade 9, Washington Technology Magnet School

Location: Our class was outside our school by the forest. Washington technology magnet.

Weather: It was cold , the leafs were all wet cause of the rain.

There was some leafs that were wet cause of the rain last night. The ground was fill with leafs the leafs were brown , green , yellowish colors. It was really cold outside even though it was 53'F. It was grey outside when I was looking through the window but when I went outside it was cloudy and blueish grey out.

Author: Noel, Grade 8, Carondelet Catholic School

Location: Minnehaha Creek near Upton Ave

Weather: Hot! At least 94 degrees F. Sunny with blue skies

The water was SO shallow compared with last year at the Falls when we sampled the same time of year as seventh graders. And the speed of the flow was so slow that it didn't make sense to try to time it the way we did last year with Bots. I wanted to see how deep it was at the deepest part. Gus, Luke and Frank with with me. It was almost up to the top of our waders, but the rest of the stream was about mid-calf or more shallow.

Link: Observation images

Author: Rebecca, Bloomington Lutheran School 

Location: Bloomington Lutheran School

Weather: Sunny

7th Grade Students installed 2 rain barrels and planted 14 MN native trees on the school property May 7, 2012. All the trees have buds or leaves and we're using the rain barrels to water the trees. Students set up a watering schedule for the summer.
Thank you for helping us complete this action project to help the Mississippi River.