Getting settled in for the season

The question of the day: "Do you see a thaw coming?"

Not in the foreseeable future.

"Okay, how about more snow?"

Stay tuned.

Meteorologists don't like to hedge, but playing the part of the politician often comes to the forefront. In other words, we dance around the question.

I am fairly certain that a "warm up" is not around the corner.  The best we can hope for is peaks of sunshine in the ever-shortening daylight hours.

The late afternoon visible satellite image painted a mostly gray sky from above as well as the clouds we viewed from below.  Temperatures were fairly uniform, in the 20s, across the state.

The value of cloud cover in the overnight hours is to insulate the release of the daytime "warmth".  Thus we shrink the diurnal range of the maximum and minimum temperatures.  When skies cleared this morning the temperature dropped to 7 degrees in Princeton. Meanwhile, where clouds persisted the low was only 20 degrees  at International Falls.

Highs on Thursday will be close to the readings we experienced today.

Little change is expected in the weather pattern until a weather system takes shape in the northern Plains on Friday night. An area of light snow is expected to track through South Dakota and southern Minnesota on Saturday.

Here's a look at the North American Mesoscale Forecast System of the predicted liquid precipitation for Saturday morning. Given the chilly air in place, this translates to a couple of inches.

The green colored core is where this model run projects the region most likely to tally the  heaviest snowfall; calculated around  two to four inches!

High temperatures for Saturday will once again be in the 20s.  So if you are into outdoor recreation the weekend could be just what you are looking for.

This is Winter Hazardous Awareness Week in Minnesota.  Today's topic is reducing the risk of seasonal fires. Complete summaries from the National Weather Service, in concert with the Minnesota Division of Public Safety can be viewed here.

One thing I would like to caution all of us on is the awareness of slick walkways and parking lots.  I was downtown this afternoon and came across a very slick pathway leading up to the bus stop.  If we get a coating of snow on Saturday, this icy patches will be camouflaged and be even more dangerous.

Yes, solid ice, not the pretty side of winter for pedestrian travel.

Slippery without warning.  Watch your step.

Since we have had our first significant snowfall in the state, I'll share this graphic from the Minnesota Climatology Working Group of the seasonal snowfall average for the state.  Central Minnesota is off to a strong start.

I'll leave you this evening with the eight- to 14-day temperature outlook from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

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