Cool weekend; arctic cold for Christmas
Our average high temperature this time of year is 25 degrees in the Twin Cities metro area.
We probably won't see 25 degrees this weekend in the metro area, but a few spots could top 20 degrees.
Most of Minnesota will have weekend highs in the teens, with parts of far northern Minnesota only seeing single digit highs on Sunday.
Some spots in west-central Minnesota could see highs in the 20s this weekend, due to their lack of snow cover out there.
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Snow cover
Thursday's snow fell mainly over far southern Minnesota, missing west-central Minnesota and most of the Twin Cities metro area.
Here's the latest snow depth map from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration:
There's plenty of snow cover in northern Minnesota, with 6 or more inches in many areas.
Christmas chill
A very cold chunk of air is lurking in southern Canada.
It will spread over Minnesota Sunday night and Christmas Day, then linger through next week.
In the Twin Cities metro area, our Christmas high temp could be about 9 degrees at 1 a.m. or so, with temps falling to about zero by sunrise and only rebounding to about 3 degrees during the daylight hours.
If that happens, it will be our coldest high temp on Christmas Day in the Twin Cities since 1996:
Northern and central Minnesota will likely see below zero highs on Christmas, with some single digit highs in far southern Minnesota.
Dangerous wind chills
NOAA shows wind chill temps of -30 to -41 in northern Minnesota Christmas morning:
Those are dangerous wind chill temps, and exposed skin could become frostbitten in about 10 minutes.
Hats, scarves and warm coats, gloves and mittens will be needed all across Minnesota this Christmas!
Twin Cities metro area wind chill readings are expected to be around 20 below zero on Christmas Day this year.
It stays cold
Highs all across Minnesota will be very cold through the coming week.
Twin Cities metro area highs are expected to be mostly in the single digits Tuesday through next weekend.
We might see some teens on Thursday.
The temperature outlook for December 28 through January 1, from the Climate Prediction Center, shows a strong tendency for colder than normal temperatures:
There's light at the end of this chilly tunnel.
NOAA's Global Forecast System model shows that the Twin Cities metro area could see highs in the 20s on January 3, and we could top 30 degrees on January 6:
Snow chances
Occasional light snow or flurries will be possible in northern Minnesota this Saturday, with a flurry chance stewide on Sunday.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's North American Mesoscale forecast model shows the potential snow pattern this weekend:
The color chart to the right of the loop refers to the strength of the signal that returns to the radar, not to the amount of snow.
Programming note
You can hear my live weather updates on Minnesota Public Radio at 7:49 a.m. Thursdays and Fridays, and at 7:35 a.m., 9:35 a.m. and 4:35 p.m. each Saturday and Sunday.