Mega Thaw: 30 degrees warmer?

A major and sustained warming trend is about 36 hours away.

After one more frigid sub-zero morning Thursday, temperatures will begin to rise as arctic air slips off to the northeast, and milder Pacific air slides in from the west. By Friday afternoon, wind chill babble and thoughts of sub zero temps may be a thing of the past for weeks (or even months?) to come.

The Twin Cities had a high of 3 degrees Tuesday. By Saturday it should be closer to 33 degrees. That's a 30 degree warm up in 4 days folks.

A westerly upper air flow will push in Pacific air. It looks like a string of days at or above 32 degrees will be the result for Minnesota through most of next week.

A shot at 40?

The GFS is hinting at the possibility of some areas in southern Minnesota touching 40 degrees toward the middle of next week. The last time the metro hit 40 was on December 30th when the temperatures topped out at 42 degrees.

Time release thaw?

The pattern of thawing days and freezing nights could be good news for mitigating the spring flood outlook. If the frozen water sitting in our snow pack is slowly released during the day, then frozen in place at night... that is the best scenario for flooding...rather than a huge flood of water during a big warm up. It may not be enough to prevent spring flooding, but every little bit helps.

Storm track returns in about 10 days?

A major winter storm is battering the southern plains today. As much as a foot of snow is flying from Oklahoma and Arkansas and heading east. Our arctic air mass has literally shoved the storm track south.

There are signs that it may return north in about a week to 10 days. If that happens it could open the door for more snow late next week, or into the following week.

GFS hinting at a return to a more northerly storm track in about 10 days.

Stay tuned!

PH