Warm February impacting businesses and potentially mosquito season

MINNEAPOLIS (KMSP) - With record warm temperatures expected for the next week, many Minnesotans are taking advantage of our break from winter.

But while the sun seems to be setting on our cold weather, that's not necessarily good for everyone.

At Setttergren Ace Hardware in south Minneapolis, there's no business like snow business.

But with temps in the 50's, snow blowers and shovels are sitting on the sidewalk instead of digging out a typical Minnesota winter.

"I guess last year and this year both have been pretty down. Not so much that we are suffering terribly, but it's not nearly what we'd like it to be," manager Wade Wuornos said.             

But our unseasonably warm weather could help take the bite out of mosquito season.

Experts say with our February thaw getting rid of the snow now, mosquitoes that thrive in the puddles usually left behind in the spring won't have any water to grow their larvae in, meaning we could see fewer mosquitoes early in the season.

"That could all change if we have a big blizzard in March or a storm that drops a lot of snow, we're right back where we started from," Mike McLean of The Metropolitan Mosquito Control District said.

If you have allergies, they may act up during our stretch of warm weather.

A local allergist says people with mold allergies start to have symptoms around 45 degrees and higher.