Crowd Enjoys Superb Weather at Twins Home Opener

Sunny All Day, High in the 60s

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No doubt baseball is, for many fans, an outdoor sport.

Until 2010, it wasn’t in Minnesota.

Still, outdoors in April this far north can be hit or miss.

“I was prepared to get my snowsuit out for opening day, which I normally do,” said Judy Brandt, a Twins season ticket holder since 1998. “They check your bags now and I’m like, ‘It’s just clothes!'”

At this year’s Twins home opener at Target Field, with full sunshine and temperatures in the 60s, people in shorts and short-sleeved shirts were everywhere.

Seasoned Twins fans know April is a month of big weather changes.

“Two years ago when I went to Opening Day it was so darn cold I had to spend like $4.50 for the tiny hot chocolate like a gazillion times with my son,” said Nancy Appl, a spirited fan who drove in from North Dakota.

Two years ago Minneapolis had a high of only 36 degrees for Opening Day – the coldest since Target Field opened in 2010.

In 2008, nearly three quarters of an inch of rain fell on Opening Day, with near-freezing temperatures.

In 2003, it was below freezing all day on Opening Day – followed by 2004, a year where the high reached into the 70s.

Fluctuating temperatures like this have some fans missing the old days.

“We liked the dome,” said Barbara and Ralph McKinney.  The McKinneys have made Opening Day a yearly tradition for decades. “We didn’t notice the weather so much in the dome!”

The Metrodome served the Twins for nearly two decades.

“I miss the dome,” Brandt said. “I wish they could have put a retractable on this. They put it on such a small lot there just wasn’t enough room for it.”

Groundskeepers say the stadium sits below street level, which mitigates the influence of the wind.

The field is also heated, providing extra comfort in cooler months.

But for those enjoying opening day in 2015 – some of those extra comforts just weren’t needed.