Groundhog Day outlook; Super Bowl chill
Every Feb. 2, news media let us know if "Punxsutawney Phil" saw his shadow:
Meteorologists often scratch their heads about this one. What does cloud cover at one spot in Pennsylvania have anything to do with the timing of winter's end?
Why would six more weeks of winter be the worst possible outcome of this Feb. 2 shadow sighting?
That would mean that our winter would end around the middle of March.
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We almost always have at least six more weeks of winter after Feb. 2 in Minnesota.
And we've all seen snowflakes in late March and occasionally in April.
Phil is a cute little rodent, but let's let him get some sleep.
Less cold
Friday afternoon highs will be in the teens over most of Minnesota, with some single digit highs in the far north.
That's a few degrees warmer, or maybe I should say "less cold," than Thursday.
Teens will be common on Saturday too:
Sunday's highs slip back into the single digits in most of Minnesota:
Twin Cities metro area highs are expected to be in the single digits on Super Bowl Sunday, then in the teens Monday through Thursday of next week.
Our average high temp in the Twin Cities is 26 degrees on Feb. 4, so it'll be much colder than normal on Super Bowl Sunday.
It gets cold in Boston and Philly
It's interesting to read and watch Super Bowl coverage that sometimes highlights our cold temperatures. Yes, it's cold right now in the Twin Cities, but it sometimes gets very cold in Boston and Philadelphia too.
The biggest cities where fans of the New England Patriots and Philadelphia Eagles congregate had some very cold weather in early January.
Here's the early January weather data from Boston, which shows highs in the teens Jan. 6 and 7, and lows near zero or slightly below zero on both of those days:
The first two days of January were similarly chilly.
Philadelphia had highs in the teens Jan. 5 through Jan. 7, with single digit lows on two of those days:
Fans from both cities probably have plenty of warm clothes.
Our Sunday temps will be a few degrees colder than the temps that they saw in Philly and Boston in early January, but Friday and Saturday highs will be in the teens here.
Visitors from warm weather cities will probably take a bit longer to adjust to our chilly temps than the fans from Philly or Boston.
And of course, the game itself is indoors.
Snow opportunities
Northern Minnesota could see some periods of snow Friday afternoon and evening, with a chance of snow showers in the south.
Most of Minnesota is expected to have periods of snow on Saturday, and the snow could linger into Saturday evening.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's North American Mesoscale forecast model shows the potential snow pattern Friday afternoon through Saturday night:
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.
At this point, it looks like far northern Minnesota could see some one inch accumulations Friday afternoon and evening, and roughly the northern half of Minnesota will be in the 2 to 3 inch range from Saturday into Saturday evening.
The Twin Cities metro area is close to the 2-inch accumulation line, so an early estimate would be for 1 to 2 inches of snow Saturday into Saturday evening.
Check later updates, since the low-pressure system track will determine snow amounts.
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.