A frigid Tuesday night and Wednesday, then fluffy snow

Weather satellite imagery today has been showing clear skies across most of the area. The snow that fell on southern Minnesota last Thursday appears as the broad white band across that part of the state. The snow also shows up nicely on the open land of northwestern Minnesota but disappears into the forests from the central to northeastern parts of the state.

In the above satellite image you can also see snow-bearing clouds streaming off Lake Superior and Lake Michigan as the frigid air crosses the open water and picks up moisture.  Bands of heavy snow have developed southeast of the lakes in Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania and New York.

Erie, Penn., nestled along the south shore of Lake Erie, picked up 34 inches of snow on Christmas Day. That's a one-day record for any day in Erie. Then they got another 24 inches up to 4 p.m. today with heavy snow still falling. These two days brought the monthly total up to 97 inches and counting.

Wind chills

Wind chill advisories have been posted from Montana to Ohio and as far south as Kansas and northern Missouri for tonight and Wednesday.

The wind chill warning for the Arrowhead continues through the night for wind chills expected to be 25 below to 45 below.

The wind chill advisories for slightly less severe conditions for the rest of Minnesota and western Wisconsin go into effect at various times and continue into Wednesday morning.

Actual low temperatures Wednesday morning are likely to range from around 30 below in far northern Minnesota to about 10 below in some southern parts of the state. The Twin Cities should have a low around 11 below and a wind chill advisory until 9 a.m.

High temperatures on Wednesday will range from around 5 below in the north to about 10 above in the south.

Snowy Thursday

Dry, fluffy snow will break out from the west Wednesday night and continue on Thursday. Accumulations of 1 to 3 inches are likely across southern and central Minnesota. I expect the snow to begin in the Twin Cities before the Thursday morning commute and accumulate to about 2 or 3 inches. Northern Minnesota will get a dusting at most. Temperatures will be so cold that vehicle exhaust is likely to freeze on surfaces and make nearly-invisible black ice.

Back into the freezer

Arctic reinforcements will begin to arrive on Friday. New Year's weekend will be bitterly cold as the air will be frigid as it leaves Canada and our fresh snow cover will provide an excellent radiating surface to enhance nighttime cooling.

The very cold air will hang around here well into next week before beginning to move off to the east. It will drop temperatures far below normal from the Great Lakes area and Mid-Atlantic States to New England.

For us, forecast models indicate that our Minnesota temperatures have a good shot at returning to near-normal levels late next week. Of course, near-normal temperatures in January are not exactly flip-flops weather.