Edge of snow again today, Christmas cold still on the way
Minnesota's latest wave of snow brushes the Twin Cities again Thursday.
Northern Minnesota picked up a solid 2 to 5 inches of snow Wednesday. The best chance for accumulating snow Thursday favors southern Minnesota counties south of the Twin Cities.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's High-Resolution Rapid Refresh model paints the light snow band across southern Minnesota Thursday. Most models agree with the notion that this band just brushes the southern Twin Cities metro.
Again, I expect a coating to around an inch favoring the southern Twin Cities. In southern Minnesota, expect 1 to 3 inches in Mankato, Northfield, Albert Lea and Rochester.
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Temps trending downward
Southern Minnesota bounces around in the 20s through Saturday. The arctic front arrives Christmas Eve, and subzero temps still look likely Christmas morning.
Persistent cold next week
The upper-air charts still hint at a second wave of even colder air gushing south into Minnesota around New Year's Day.
Keep in mind that temperature trends are more reliable than precipitation forecasts or individual daily temperature numbers in week two.
So while we may not put a ton of credence in the raw numbers, if a signal for significantly colder temperatures persists, there may be some credibility there. I remain a bit skeptical, but we'll see if this trend has any staying power in the coming days.
The last few runs of NOAA's Global Forecast System model have featured temperatures colder than -20 in the Twin Cities as January dawns.
Stay tuned.