Five sub-zero nights in the next week, next snow chance Sunday

Deep Freeze

It may be warmer in your freezer the next few nights in Minnesota than it is in your back yard.

Several sub-zero nights lie ahead, and temps may runs as cold as -25 in the colder nooks and crannies up north. The metro may have to settle for lows between -5 and -15 in the city and suburbs. Here's NOAA's GFS model's take on temps at MSP Airport the next week. The suburbs will likely run a few degrees colder.

Wind chill advisories extend into Saturday across the Upper Midwest.

Next snow chance Saturday night and Sunday

Dry skies prevail into the weekend, but moisture will start to overrun the cold dome over Minnesota by Saturday night. That can be an efficient snowmaker for Minnesota. Although moisture looks limited at this point, a couple of inches of snowfall is easily possible by Sunday afternoon. Heavier snowfall looks likely for southern Minnesota.

We'll have to keep an eye on this system to see if it can become more 'productive.'

Major ice storm in the south

Around the edge of our descending cold dome, the next wave of moisture is causing havoc in the southern plains. A major snow and ice fest is in progress in places like Tulas and Little Rock to the Ohio Valley.

Here's the weather briefing from the Dallas-Fort Worth NWS.

More sun dogs ahead?

Thursday's elevated layer of blowing snow crystals was just right for the amazing sun dogs we saw at sunrise. Conditions may be right for a repeat into the weeknd so keep an eye out for this spectacular sight.

Sun dogs at sunrise today. Image: Aaron Cooper

Sun dogs, also called mock suns or 22-degree parhelia made a spectacular show at sunrise today. The snow covered landscape was the backdrop, as ice crystals refracted the sunlight through the clear frigid sky. Here's a good explanation of  sun dogs from the University of Illinois.

Sundogs, also known as mock suns or "parhelia", are a pair of brightly colored spots, one on either side of the sun. 

Sundogs are visible when the sun is near the horizon and on the same horizontal plane as the observer and the ice crystals. As sunlight passes through the ice crystals, it is bent by 22 degrees before reaching our eyes, much like what happens with 22 degree halos. This bending of light results in the formation of a sundog. The difference between sundogs and halos is the preferential orientation of the ice crystals through which the light passes before reaching our eyes. If the hexagonal crystals are oriented with their flat faces horizontal, a sundog is observed. If the hexagonal crystals are randomly oriented, a halo is observed.

Image: University of Illinois