Collection
Climate & Weather
1,006 Collection Items
- When conditions align, skaters seek out 'wild ice' on northern Minnesota lakes
MPR’s Dan Kraker travels to Deer Yard Lake in northeastern Minnesota, where cold temperatures have combined with a lack of snow to create ideal conditions for the formation of what some call ‘wild ice’ — black, glassy, smooth ice that can make for miles of epic ice skating on some remote lakes. Kraker meets a die-hard group of skaters that drop everything in search of perfect ice, and the feeling of gliding across the mirror-like surface.
- 10 climate lessons we’ve learned in 10 years of Climate Cast
How far have climate solutions advanced in the past 10 years? To celebrate Climate Cast’s 10th anniversary, MPR’s chief meteorologist Paul Huttner talks to an elite panel of experts about how climate change has evolved since Climate Cast began.
- Why Lake Superior's legendary gales blow especially hard in November
As a powerful storm hits Duluth on the anniversary of the Edmund Fitzgerald tragedy, MPR’s Dan Kraker looks at what makes the gales of November on Lake Superior so memorable.
- 'Pure devastation': Rainy Lake residents fill sandbags, fight exhaustion as floodwaters rise
MPR’s Dan Kraker reports on record water levels on Rainy Lake, where homes are flooding, docks are under 5 to 6 feet of water, and roads and campsites are closed along the Canadian border as residents continue to battle rising floodwaters.
- Climate Cast: Drought explainer
On this edition of Climate Cast, Paul Huttner talks with Jennifer Francis, a climate scientist with the Woodwell Climate Research Center, about drought and it’s connection to climate change. Can you say jet stream?
- Heat wave adds to drought misery
MPR’s Riham Feshir reports on how a heat wave has added to the intensity of extreme drought encompassing much of Minnesota. Feshir interviews various officials about coping in the dry and hot weather.
- Drought hits farmers, ranchers hard
MPR’s Dan Kraker profiles framers and ranchers in north central Minnesota as they battle against the toll of severe drought conditions. Kraker also talks with climatologists about dry weather.
- Lake Superior's annual ice-breaking ritual
Springtime in Duluth isn't signaled by birds or butterflies or flowers. Duluthians know it's spring when the Coast Guard icebreakers arrive, announcing the start of another Great Lakes shipping season. MPR’s Dan Kraker takes a ride on the U.S. Coast Guard cutter Alder as it breaks ice and creates navigation lanes for the opening of the maritime shipping season.
- Leaning in to the snow with Ann Bancroft
As part of Women's History Month, MPR News host Angela Davis sat down with Ann Bancroft, one of the world's most respected polar explorers. Davis also interviews Kathy Lantry in this audio as well.
- In defiance of winter, Duluthians skate the 'People's Rink' on frozen Superior
MPR’s Dan Kraker visits an area about a quarter-mile offshore from Duluth's Leif Erikson Park, where a hearty band of volunteers have carved a skating rink unlike any other on the frozen surface of Lake Superior. It is an increasing rarity, as warmer winters over the past few decades have resulted in substantially less ice cover.