Bright and cold Saturday; snow returns on Sunday

The weather this Saturday is eerily similar to our weather last Saturday.

Arctic chill will be with us today and tonight, with temps moderating a bit by Sunday afternoon.

Temperature details 

Cold temperatures will combine with wind to create wind chill values in the -20 to -40 degree range for about the northern third of Minnesota this Saturday morning.

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Wind chill advisories continue to 11 a.m. this Saturday for the northern third of Minnesota.

It'll be another day for your warmest gloves, coat and hat all across Minnesota.

Our Saturday high temperatures are expected to be in the single digits below zero in about the northern third of Minnesota, with single digits above zero in central and southern  Minnesota.

Lows late Saturday night into early Sunday drop to the teens below zero in northern Minnesota:

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A few spots in the northeast could dip below -20.

Southern Minnesota will see low temps mainly in the single digits below zero.

Sunday highs range from the single digits above zero in the north to some lower 20s southwest:

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The Twin Cities metro area should see highs in the teens Sunday afternoon.

Twin Cities highs will be just slightly above zero Monday and Tuesday, followed by teens Wednesday and 20s on Thursday.

We could touch 30 degrees next Friday.

Sunday snow 

A low pressure system will slide over Minnesota Sunday and Sunday evening, bringing snow to most of Minnesota and Wisconsin.

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

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NOAA NAM simulated radar Sunday through sunday night, 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 west central and southwestern Minnesota will see the lowest snow totals Sunday and Sunday evening.

Eastern Minnesota, including the Twin Cities metro area, could see two inches or more of snow Sunday afternoon into Sunday evening:

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NWS Twin Cities

Snow lovers are starting to feel better about our winter.

Warm 2017

The cold final week of December pushed the month into the colder than normal category in the Twin Cities:

December was only the third month of 2017 that was colder than normal in the Twin Cities metro area.

According to NOAA:

For the third consecutive year, every state across the contiguous U.S. and Alaska had an above-average annual temperature. Despite cold seasons in various regions throughout the year, above-average temperatures, often record breaking, during other parts of the year more than offset any seasonal cool conditions.

Record mean annual temps were seen in parts of the south:

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NOAA

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.