Messy Monday; January 10 degrees above average, so far
Our highly unusual January weather pattern continues Monday.
Many records fell across Minnesota Friday and Saturday including back-to-back 47-degree highs at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport. Temperatures already hit the low 40s again Monday across southern Minnesota.
Up north, it's a wintry icy mess. Roads are slick with glaze ice, sleet and snow in most of northern Minnesota.
It's mostly drizzled with wet roads in the south.
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Significant icing is reported across northern Minnesota. The Duluth National Weather Service reports .20 of an inch of glaze in northeastern Minnesota.
NWS Duluth [St. Louis Co, MN] OFFICIAL NWS OBS reports FREEZING RAIN of 0.20 INCH at 7:10 AM CST --
Unusually warm system
The temperature profile of Monday's weather system is another January oddity. Warm air surged unusually far north into northern Minnesota and changed what looked like heavy snow to freezing rain in many areas.
Freezing drizzle gradually tapers off across much of northern Minnesota.
Tuesday morning clipper
With all the noise about the Monday system, Tuesday morning's commute may actually be worse in the Twin Cities. A minor clipper sails through overnight into Tuesday morning with a light mix of ice and snow. With temperatures below freezing, it could be enough to create slick roads early Tuesday.
Here's the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's North American Mesoscale Forecast System 3 km resolution model between midnight and 4 a.m. Tuesday.
January temperature roller coaster
Temperatures tumble behind Tuesday's system. The cold air lingers through about Friday, then milder air filters back into Minnesota over the weekend. Highs in the 30s to around 40 degrees likely again early next week.
It's tough to keep the mild Pacific air out of here this winter.
So far January is running more than 10 degrees above average in the Twin Cities. Temperature departures across the Midwest are unusually warm again this month.
Temperatures are likely to run a good 10 to 15 degrees higher than average again next week.
It's hard to see a scenario where January temperatures don't end up several degrees warmer than average across Minnesota. With December in the books around 6 degrees higher than average, our mild weather over the next two weeks pretty much assures a significantly mild winter across the Upper Midwest this season.
Stay tuned.