Northern Minnesota is under a new alert until Friday at 7 p.m.

MPR News helps you turn down the noise and build shared understanding. Turn up your support for this public resource and keep trusted journalism accessible to all. 

Turn Up Your Support

Today’s weather forecast for Minnesota: Highs in the 80s to low 90s, hazy skies, scattered showers and storms... and if you live anywhere near a cottonwood tree, a good chance for “snow.”

It’s an annual late spring-early summer tradition: Cottonwood trees release thousands upon thousands of tiny seeds attached to strands of “cotton” that help those seeds drift through the air like fluffy snowflakes.

The cotton is what gave the trees their name — and depending on what you think of those seeds, it’s also what gives those trees a bad name.

The floating cotton certainly doesn’t help anyone suffering from allergies. It can clog up air vents and air conditioning units. At dusk, it can make the world resemble “The Upside Down” from “Stranger Things.” 

At the same time, when those floating seeds are drifting about on a sunny day, silhouetted against the blue sky — it can be a magical, beautiful scene.

If you live in close proximity to a cottonwood tree, you probably know all about their quirks and annoyances. If you don’t, here’s some more information about them from the 

Minnesota Department of Natural Resources

Andrew Krueger

Author

Today’s weather forecast for Minnesota: Highs in the 80s to low 90s, hazy skies, scattered showers and storms... and if you live anywhere near a cottonwood tree, a good chance for “snow.”


A handful of seeds from a cottonwood tree

Andrew Krueger | MPR News file

Clumps of "cotton" -- filled with seeds -- hang from a cottonwood tree

It’s cottonwood ‘snow’ season in Minnesota

Go Deeper.

Like this?