Chicago, Duluth: Coldest April Fools' Day Since 1993

By Kristina Pydynowski, Senior Meteorologist

April 1,2013; 6:31PM,EDT

The arctic air plunging into the Midwest is leading to the coldest April Fools' Day in years, even decades for some.
Easter Sunday went down in history books as a chilly one for the Upper Midwest due to the arctic air's arrival, while temperatures remain mild across the eastern Great Lakes and Ohio Valley.
A noticeably colder Monday is on tap for the rest of the Midwest as the cold blast continues its journey to the south and east, eventually leading to dramatic changes for the Northeast's I-95 corridor and the southern Plains by Wednesday.
Highs on Monday will range between 40 and 45 degrees along the I-70 corridor from St. Louis to Indianapolis to Columbus, but will be held to the 30s across the Great Lakes.

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Temperatures will even fail to crack the 30-degree mark from northern and eastern North Dakota to northern parts of Michigan.
Brisk winds will create even colder AccuWeather.com RealFeel® temperatures.
For a region where highs typically warm into the lower 40s near the Canadian border to the lower 60s along the Ohio River on April 1, Monday's highs will translate to the Midwest's coldest April Fools' Day in years.
The coldest April Fools' Day since 1993 is shaping up for Chicago, Duluth and Green Bay. Monday will be the coldest April 1 since 2001 for Detroit and since 2002 for Minneapolis.

Graphic by Al Blasko, AccuWeather.com
Temperatures in Indianapolis, Ind., should only top out at 45 degrees on Monday, making this April Fools' Day the city's coldest since 1992.
April 1, 1996, was the last time temperatures were held to the 20s on April Fools' Day in International Falls, Minn., a feat that is expected to be repeated on Monday.
Monday's unusual cold comes one year after the Midwest experienced a mild to unusually warm April Fool's Day in 2012.
Temperatures soared into the 80s last April Fool's Day in Des Moines, St. Louis and Kansas City, where highs in the 30s are expected this Monday.
Slightly more than 30 degrees will separate high temperatures from April 1, 2012 (67 degrees) and Monday's forecast high (35 degrees) in Minneapolis, Minn. For Chicago and Detroit, the difference in April 1 high temperatures from last year to this year ranges from 15 to 20 degrees.
Another difference between the April Fool's Days of this year and 2012 is the fact that snow should once again make an appearance downwind of the Great Lakes and from Wichita, Kan., to St. Louis to Pittsburgh on Monday.