I know it's hard to believe, but southern Minnesota is closer to the equator than the North Pole. The 45th parallel runs through the Minneapolis/St. Paul area and is actually suppose to be off by 10 miles, the real line should be 10 miles further north. So why are we so cold in the winter? It is because we are land locked and don't have the water of the great lakes to buffer the cold air from the north. We are the same latitude as France, Spain, Italy and the northern Mediterranean Sea!