Coldest day of winter so far; Saturday snow?
Yes, it's probably warmer in your freezer this morning than outside your front door. Most food safety experts recommend freezer temps around zero or colder. And no, I have absolutely no idea how this weather blog post stared out with a discussion about food safety. Clearly the cold is having an effect on my already feeble brain.
Welcome to the coldest day of the winter season so far in Minnesota.
-7 degrees air temperature at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport this morning
-4 degrees coldest temp recorded at MSP prior to today (Nov. 27)
6 degrees coldest high temp at MSP so far this winter (Dec. 1)
3 degrees forecast high this afternoon
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Sub-zero temps maintain an icy grip on Minnesota this morning and again Wednesday morning. The zero-degree misery line pushed all the way south to near a Denver-Omaha-Des Moines-Madison line this morning. Purple-fuchsia? Generally not a pleasant color on weather maps.
The big blob of arctic high pressure slides over Minnesota, then settles in the Southern Plains the next 48 hours.
Moderation ahead
The core of the coldest air slides over Minnesota the next 30 hours. Wednesday should be slightly colder than this morning across most of Minnesota. We bottom out around minus 8 degrees in the metro tomorrow morning, then slight "warm advection" pushes temps into the teens Wednesday afternoon. Gusty winds will keep wind chills down in the sub-zero range tomorrow. New Year's Eve temps hover near 10 degrees above zero.
Temps moderate to near average New Year's Day through Saturday. Thursday through Saturday looks like a good window to get out and enjoy our Minnesota winter and what snow cover we have on the ground at this point, before a reinforcing arctic smack arrives Monday. Temps moderate again late next week.
More roller coaster winter temps. Do I see a pattern here?
It still looks like this winter is on track to favor the pattern I talked about in early November. Overall I still think this winter will pan out much milder than last winter, even close to average. A weak El Nino favors the push-pull roller coaster nature of periodic arctic intrusions punctuated by moderating spells, even occasional thaws.
Watching Saturday snow chances
A clipper dives toward Minnesota Saturday. Early storm tracks favor significant snow over central and northern Minnesota, with lesser totals near the Twin Cities. If this track holds, this could be a significant snow maker up north.
Lighter snow chances favor Saturday and Monday for the metro.
Colder again next week
A second wave of arctic air pushes south next week. Sub-zero temps again invade Minnesota. Here's a look at temperature anomalies -- a good 20 degrees colder than average from the University of Maine's Climate Reanalyzer.
We'll be making more ice next week on Minnesota lakes.
Frost going deeper
As you would expect, soil temperatures across Minnesota have plunged in the past few days.Our December thaw kept frost at bay through Christmas. Here's a look at deepening frost levels from The University of Minnesota's Southern Research and Outreach Center in Waseca. Frost depth has pushed below 8 inches as of this morning.
