Snowy swipe overnight, hints of Indian summer next week
Get ready for another reminder that the season formerly known as winter is coming. Our next wintry cold front sails southeast through Minnesota overnight.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's High-Resolution Rapid Refresh model tracks the snowy stripe tracking southeast overnight.
Quick inch
The arctic frontal snow band delivers a quick inch or two to northeastern half of Minnesota. Heavier lake-effect snows pile up on the leeward shores of Lake Superior.
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Light snow sweeps across the Twin Cities between about 9 p.m. and midnight Wednesday. Most of the Twin Cities picks up less than 1 inch of accumulation overnight.
December preview: season's coldest, so far
The season's coldest air mass so far blows in on gusty northwest winds Thursday. Highs hover in the teens up north, with 20s across most of southern Minnesota.
Wind chills hover in the single digits above and below zero Thursday morning. Where's my parka?
Cold streak: 14 days Thursday
Thursday will be day 14 in a row of colder than average temperatures in the Twin Cities and most of Minnesota.
November is running 7 degrees colder than average so far at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport. This year has been warm overall, but you can see our current patch of blue growing on the daily temperature plot form the Twin Cities National Weather Service office.
Through October this is the eighth warmest year on record in Minnesota and the seventh warmest in Wisconsin.
Milder days ahead
A milder Pacific flow returns this weekend, and pushes even milder air into Minnesota next week. The upper air flow shows a few brief ridging events in the next 10 days like this one on Sunday Nov. 19. This pattern pushes milder air into Minnesota.
NOAA's six- to 10-day outlook favors milder than average temperatures next week for Minnesota.
After our December preview Thursday and Friday, temperatures begin to moderate this weekend into next week. I think the Twin Cities and southern Minnesota stand a good chance of reaching into the 50s in the next 10 days.
3rd warmest year on record in U.S., so far
It's been a warm year across much of the United States.
Many cities are having the warmest year on record.
Climate observation platforms are suffering.
Meanwhile, a great fall color show is underway in Washington, D.C.