Friday snow chance; Arctic cold through New Year’s Day

Our official Twin Cities high temp was 10 degrees Thursday afternoon.

Why am I mentioning such a meager high temp?

Because it was our first double digit high temp in the Twin Cities since Christmas Eve!

The daily snow total at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport was 1.1 inches through 6 p.m. Thursday.

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Temperature trends

Temps will be very chilly Friday morning, and wind chill readings in the -20 to -35 range are expected Friday morning in northern Minnesota.

Highs Friday are expected to be in the single digits below zero over northern Minnesota, and in the single digits above zero in southern Minnesota.

Lows late Friday night into early Saturday morning will be well below zero:

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Highs Saturday will be below zero statewide:

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Highs on Sunday will also stay below zero:

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Dangerous wind chill readings are expected Friday night through Saturday morning, and Saturday night through Sunday morning:

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NWS Twin Cities

Twin Cities metro area highs are expected to be around zero on New Year's Day, but a high near 10 is possible on Tuesday.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Global Forecast System model doesn't show our next Twin Cities high temp in the 20s until January 6.

Friday snow chance

Another batch of snow moves into southwestern and west-central Minnesota early Friday morning, then spreads eastward.

Some light snow could brush the Twin Cities metro area during the afternoon hours.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's North American Mesoscale forecast model shows the potential snow pattern Friday and Friday evening:

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NOAA NAM simulated radar Friday and Friday evening, via tropicaltidbits

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.

It looks like parts of southern Minnesota could see a couple of inches of snow on Friday, but accumulations in the Twin Cities metro area are expected to be under one inch.

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.