A Strong El Niño Could Impact Prices At Minnesota Grocery Stores

Winter is coming and I am surprised it hasn't struck yet to be honest! It did make its way into the forecast once so far but it was minimal so nothing really came of it.

However, winter will be here before you know it AND this winter, we are expecting an incredibly strong El Niño. In fact, it is even being referred to as a Super El Niño - but it sounds much scarier than it really is.

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An El Niño typically brings us warmer temperatures throughout the winter and less snow! However, that doesn't mean it will be tropical and dry. It just means we could see a milder winter than usual.

Such is the case with the last El Niño we saw about a decade ago! However, there's more to an El Niño than just how it feels. This one could be so strong, we may see its impacts in other places like the grocery store.

Inflation Rate Holds Steady, Monthly Data Shows — Mario Tama, Getty Images

How The Upcoming El Niño Could Impact Prices At The Grocery Store

As if we haven't seen high enough prices at the grocery store! Things could get a big worse thanks to the impending El Niño in our region. Prices on things like coffee and chocolate could skyrocket, and more.

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Why? Because an El Niño impacts different parts of the world different, and can lead to things like droughts and the like, which in turn has a big impact on things like crops and livestock. Tihs leads to a decrease in food production and therefore, an increase in price for what is.

Things like coffee, bananas, chocolate and sugar could see a surge in price. Not coffee! That is terrible news. This also includes palm oil, rice, wheat, fish and beef per the Weather Channel. This is bad news, as many are struggling to afford groceries as it is.

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This could impact prices for about two years. I will have my fingers crossed that this doesn't happen. We have dealt with enough as it is when it comes to high grocery prices, no? And I am all for a mild winter, as long as our local businesses have enough snow to get by.

What Happened With Wisconsin's Weather During The Strong El Niño of 2015-2016

With a strong El Niño in the forecast to impact Wisconsin's winter of 2026-2027, we can get some context as to what to expect from the last strong El Niño we saw. The last time a strong El Niño happened was the winter of 2015-2016. Here's what happened across Wisconsin with temperatures and snow totals.

Gallery Credit: Nick Cooper - TSM Duluth

2026 City Of Duluth Name A Snowplow Finalists

The finalists for the third annual City of Duluth Name a Snowplow contest have been revealed! After Duluthians submitted their name ideas, staff with the City of Duluth narrowed down the field of suggestions for this year's contest to 10 finalists.

While there are a few outliers, there's a bit of a theme to this year's list of finalists.

All of these names are now up for a vote to decide the winning name for the 2026 contest.

Here they are in alphabetical order.

Gallery Credit: Nick Cooper - TSM Duluth