Pacific breeze first, snow and sub-zero next week?

Blue Juice Alert

Call it a late January thaw.

Winds blow off the Pacific Ocean toward Minnesota as we head intothe weekend. (It's never too early to start thinking about the weekend right?) Temperatures reach the thawing point the next few days across a good chunk of Minnesota. You'll need to check the blue juice in your car with road spray a distinct possibility during commutes as warmer breezes blow in from Seattle the next few days.

Big state, different weather

The weather maps often remind us that Minnesota is a tall state from north to south. It's about 400 miles form the northwest tip of Minnesota to the Iowa border.

If we were to sub-divide Minnesota by climate zones we might have at least three different weather states. Southern Minnesota. Northern Minnesota. And the North Shore. We could get even finer resolution if we wanted.

We as meteorologists always need to remember that weather doesn't start or stop at the Twin Cities' metro borders. I've spent many amazing weeks in great Minnesota communities and the woods and lakes near Ely, the Boundary Waters, the North Shore and Lake of The Woods. I've seen the buffalo and touched the prickly pear cactus in Blue Mounds State Park and Pipestone. I've enjoyed the petroglyphs near Jeffers in southwest Minnesota and visited Laura Ingalls Wilder's little dugout house on Plum Creek. I've enjoyed amazing landscape and picturesque streams in southeast Minnesota.

I try and mention and cover as many Minnesota and regional towns as possible in our all to short daily weather chats on MPR News. I wish I had an hour each day to cover weather in this great weather state. Just know I'm keeping one eye on you Hallock, Ortonville, Fergus and Caledonia and all the amazing other Minnesota towns.

Clipper up north

A fast moving jet stream along the Canadian border drive another low pressure system toward Lake Superior Wednesday. The resulting clipper brings another accumulating snow shot basically north of a Grand Forks-Pine City line Wednesday. The Twin Cities gets grazed with a dusting on the southern end of the system.

The wintry mix also clips the norther Red River Valley and northwest Minnesota Wednesday.

To the maps. A fast moving low pressure zips by to the north. Minnesota alternates between milder Pacific breezes and some Canadian exhaust the next few days. The Pacific Northwest gets slammed with another heavy rain and mountain snow event.

Temperatures respond this week. Thirties are the rule in the metro, with a shot at 40 by Saturday afternoon.

Even warmer air pools west of Minnesota. It's amazing just how close we are to "non-winter" this season.

Snow next Tuesday?

Still watching a week in advance. And NOAA's GFS is still cranking out potentially plowable snow for the Upper Midwest next Tuesday and Wednesday. Too early to put a high confidence stamp on it, but watching.

Sub-zero late next week?

Another set of model runs with the same conclusion. It's going to get cold again late next week.

A few more sub-zero nights? The odds are growing by the day.

Stay tuned.