Minnesota sub-zero chill, Alaska in the 40s

Remember that old weather saying, when it's cold in Minnesota it's warm in Alaska?

We're living proof of that this week, as another bitter sub-zero air mass sags south. The way planetary waves space themselves in the northern hemisphere, Alaska and Minnesota usually sit on opposite sides of the temperature fence. While Minnesota shivers in shades of blue and purple, Alaska is bathed in red.

The Anchorage National Weather Service even took time to poke fun at the besieged city of Boston with yesterday's high temperature of 42 degrees.

Talk about rubbing salt in weather wounds.

Minnesota not so nice

The core of the inbound arctic air passes over Minnesota in the next 48 hours. Wind chill advisories and shades of blue cover Upper Midwest weather maps.

The La Crosse, Wis.,  National Weather Service gives form to a common weather theme this week.

The gory details for the Twin Cities? We bottom out Thursday morning near minus 10 degrees. That's not far from the coldest day of winter so far, which was minus 11 degrees on Jan. 5. That was part of a straight week sub-zero run.

Mercifully, it won't stay that cold for that long this time around.

 Early March snow?

Remember when march used to be our snowiest month of the year on average? It's now officially No. 3 with a monthly snowfall average of 10.5 inches but still pretty close to January (12.2 inches) and December (11.9 inches).

It's way too early to put too much stock into this idea, but the longer range maps from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Global Forecast System have been hinting for several runs now at a potential snow system in the opening days of March somewhere in the Upper Midwest.

The GFS 16-day numbers catch that trend. Reality or long range weather fantasy? Too soon to say for sure.

One thing is likely, our current snow drought isn't climatologically likely to survive March, and the infamous "State Tournament Snowstorm Season."

Stay tuned.