Boo! Spooky cold Halloween; next snow Wednesday
Welcome to the coldest Halloween in 11 years. The Upper Midwest shivers Tuesday. Temperatures bottomed out in the teens and 20s across most of Minnesota Tuesday morning.
Spooky cold tonight
The good news for trick-or-treaters Tuesday evening? It will be dry and less windy than Monday. Temperatures hover around the freezing mark across Minnesota Tuesday evening. Have the candy at the ready.
Wednesday slop storm
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Our next weather maker rolls in Wednesday. Look for snow to bust out Wednesday morning through midday. Sloppy snow changes to rain in the Twin Cities Wednesday afternoon, but I could see a quick 1 to 2 inches on the ground by then. Precipitation stays all snow north of the Twin Cities.
Here's the version of events from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Global Forecast System.
Couple inches
A couple inches of slush is likely in most areas Wednesday. But I could see some 2- to 5-inch totals from Mille Lacs north to the North Shore.
NOAA's North American Mesoscale Forecast System 3 km resolution model paints the potential for several inches along the ridge above the North Shore Wednesday. Ski Finland, Minn.?
Gradual warming trend
Temperatures moderate gradually this week. A shot at 50 Sunday in the Twin Cities seems plausible.
Chaotic upper-air pattern
The upper-air pattern seems to want to evolve into what meteorologists call a Di-polar pattern. Note the two polar vortex centers up north. That can lead to cold air plunges across North America and Europe.
It's too soon to say how this might evolve, but we'll have to watch for mild or very cold (and snowy) swings in November. This pattern hints at milder air in the Upper Midwest about Nov. 9-10.
Stay tuned.