'It's gonna get cold': Balmy January temps make way for arctic air
Sun dogs are visible in the eastern sky as joggers make their way around Lake Harriet in Minneapolis, Minn., Saturday, Dec. 7, 2013. (AP Photo/The Star Tribune, David Joles)
Huttner, Paul
Temperatures are relatively mild today for late January but that won't last long.
Host Cathy Wurzer checked in with our chief meteorologist Paul Huttner with a detailed look at the weather and what's in store for us.
Use the audio player above to listen to the full conversation.
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Audio transcript
[MUSIC PLAYING] CATHY WURZER: Temperatures are relatively mild today for late January, but that's not going to last long. Let's check in with our chief meteorologist, Paul Huttner, with a detailed look at the weather and what's in store for us. Here's a hint. It's going to get cold. I can hardly wait.
So right now, my friend, we've got some light snow out there. How much and how long?
PAUL HUTTNER: Yeah, we do. It's not a major snowstorm, by any event, a little bit of a clipper sliding through Minnesota. It is snowing right now from about the Iron Range, Ely, North Shore, down through Hinckley, through Duluth, and then back West of the Twin Cities, around Litchfield, St. Cloud, Hutchinson, and then into the Twin Cities. I even had a little graupel here, Cathy, those little, round snow pellets, today on the deck that form from super cooled water that just freezes into those.
So this snow will last through much of the afternoon and tonight. We'll get about an inch in the Twin Cities, I think, by the time we're done. More like 1 to 2, Duluth and the North Shore. And then this thing slides out of here tonight.
A second clipper will dive in Thursday night into Friday. It'll hit the Red River Valley tomorrow evening around 4:00 to 6:00 PM, and then race Southeast across Minnesota, Duluth, to the Twin Cities probably closer to, say, midnight tomorrow night, and then into the early morning hours on Friday.
And that looks like another 1 to maybe 2 inches in the Twin Cities, another 1 to 3 in Northern Minnesota. So nothing to write home about in terms of snow amounts. But Cathy, as you know, just a little bit is enough to usually get the roads pretty greasy out there this time of the year.
CATHY WURZER: Yes, exactly. So these two little clippers are going to open the door for some Arctic air, is that right?
PAUL HUTTNER: They are. And this looks like a pretty respectable Arctic outbreak. It won't be record cold. Our records this weekend for lows in the Twin Cities are 29 and 30 below. The European model is saying about 15 below in the Twin Cities by Monday morning yesterday. It's backed off a little bit now.
We've been as cold as 12 below so far this season, back on December 23. So we may challenge that by about Monday morning. But it looks like most of the lows in the Twin Cities, after we start at 32 degrees early Friday, will fall through the teens and dip down a little bit below 0 by Saturday morning, more like 10 below Sunday morning in the Twin Cities, with 20s below, maybe 30 below, up in Northern Minnesota.
And then again, 10 or so below, it looks like, Monday morning. And we could see a string of sub-zero lows, Cathy, as we head into next week. The cold air will hang around for a little while.
But it doesn't look super Arctic. And this is not polar vortex-style outbreak. It'll be plenty cold. But I don't think we'll see anything like 20 below in the Twin Cities. And we should be up around 30 degrees again by next Friday.
CATHY WURZER: So for those who wish to bellyache, really, we should not, because it's been kind of a balmy January, really, when you look at it.
PAUL HUTTNER: Incredible numbers. And what a flip from December. We are now warmer in January than we were in December. And the last time that happened was 17 years ago, in 2006. We were 18 degrees last month in December. Average right now in the Twin Cities, 23.9 degrees. And we're running 7 degrees, 7.7, warmer than average in the Twin Cities so far this month.
Check out Duluth, 11 degrees warmer than average. International Falls, 13.6 degrees warmer than average. Cathy, that is not a typical January for what used to be called the icebox of the nation.
CATHY WURZER: Yeah, no kidding. It's just weird.
PAUL HUTTNER: It is.
CATHY WURZER: On a high note, we're getting daylight pretty fast.
PAUL HUTTNER: We are. And I'm noticing it even though the clouds have been persistent. We've had only like four sunny days this month. But we've gained more than 45 minutes of daylight now since the solstice in December. We're gaining 2 minutes and 20 seconds a day. So that's an hour in the next month. Sunset now 5:19 PM, Cathy. So it's light out there on clear nights until about 5:40.
CATHY WURZER: Yay. So that means spring is coming.
PAUL HUTTNER: Yeah.
CATHY WURZER: I know, right? So do we think we may see an earlier spring? Because now January is all messed up when it comes to temperature. I mean, might we see in early spring?
PAUL HUTTNER: Yeah, a guy can dream. That's for sure. Look, here's what's been happening that's interesting. Spring leaf out along the Gulf Coast and into Texas, up around the Dallas area, is way early already this year, 2 to 3 weeks early. And we are shifting from this La Nina into an El Nino. And that might, might signify a little bit earlier spring for Minnesota.
But you know how it can be, right? We could get snow in April. We usually do. So I'm hopeful that we won't see these kind of springs that we've seen in the last few years, where we get heavy snow into the first half of April.
What does look real probable is next winter, with this El Nino, if it kicks in, it would skew toward a warmer-than-average winter next year. So that's a long way off, a lot to go through until then. But that's the way the Pacific Ocean is looking right now.
CATHY WURZER: Let's see. Before you go, how about this major storm passing over the southeastern part of the US?
PAUL HUTTNER: Yeah, it's a big one. We've got an Ohio Valley storm, heavy snow, 8 to 12 inches, Illinois, Indiana, up to about Detroit, northern New England. Interesting to note, it'll be mostly rain in New York City. New York City, this is the latest snowfall on record. They haven't had any snow yet this winter season, the latest snowfall on record. It goes back 200 years if they make it to this weekend without any snow, Cathy. So it's been an upside-down winter in a few places in the US this year.
CATHY WURZER: Wow. So strange. All right, Mr. Huttner. Thank you.
PAUL HUTTNER: My pleasure. Thanks, Cathy.
CATHY WURZER: We've been talking to Paul Huttner, our chief meteorologist.
So right now, my friend, we've got some light snow out there. How much and how long?
PAUL HUTTNER: Yeah, we do. It's not a major snowstorm, by any event, a little bit of a clipper sliding through Minnesota. It is snowing right now from about the Iron Range, Ely, North Shore, down through Hinckley, through Duluth, and then back West of the Twin Cities, around Litchfield, St. Cloud, Hutchinson, and then into the Twin Cities. I even had a little graupel here, Cathy, those little, round snow pellets, today on the deck that form from super cooled water that just freezes into those.
So this snow will last through much of the afternoon and tonight. We'll get about an inch in the Twin Cities, I think, by the time we're done. More like 1 to 2, Duluth and the North Shore. And then this thing slides out of here tonight.
A second clipper will dive in Thursday night into Friday. It'll hit the Red River Valley tomorrow evening around 4:00 to 6:00 PM, and then race Southeast across Minnesota, Duluth, to the Twin Cities probably closer to, say, midnight tomorrow night, and then into the early morning hours on Friday.
And that looks like another 1 to maybe 2 inches in the Twin Cities, another 1 to 3 in Northern Minnesota. So nothing to write home about in terms of snow amounts. But Cathy, as you know, just a little bit is enough to usually get the roads pretty greasy out there this time of the year.
CATHY WURZER: Yes, exactly. So these two little clippers are going to open the door for some Arctic air, is that right?
PAUL HUTTNER: They are. And this looks like a pretty respectable Arctic outbreak. It won't be record cold. Our records this weekend for lows in the Twin Cities are 29 and 30 below. The European model is saying about 15 below in the Twin Cities by Monday morning yesterday. It's backed off a little bit now.
We've been as cold as 12 below so far this season, back on December 23. So we may challenge that by about Monday morning. But it looks like most of the lows in the Twin Cities, after we start at 32 degrees early Friday, will fall through the teens and dip down a little bit below 0 by Saturday morning, more like 10 below Sunday morning in the Twin Cities, with 20s below, maybe 30 below, up in Northern Minnesota.
And then again, 10 or so below, it looks like, Monday morning. And we could see a string of sub-zero lows, Cathy, as we head into next week. The cold air will hang around for a little while.
But it doesn't look super Arctic. And this is not polar vortex-style outbreak. It'll be plenty cold. But I don't think we'll see anything like 20 below in the Twin Cities. And we should be up around 30 degrees again by next Friday.
CATHY WURZER: So for those who wish to bellyache, really, we should not, because it's been kind of a balmy January, really, when you look at it.
PAUL HUTTNER: Incredible numbers. And what a flip from December. We are now warmer in January than we were in December. And the last time that happened was 17 years ago, in 2006. We were 18 degrees last month in December. Average right now in the Twin Cities, 23.9 degrees. And we're running 7 degrees, 7.7, warmer than average in the Twin Cities so far this month.
Check out Duluth, 11 degrees warmer than average. International Falls, 13.6 degrees warmer than average. Cathy, that is not a typical January for what used to be called the icebox of the nation.
CATHY WURZER: Yeah, no kidding. It's just weird.
PAUL HUTTNER: It is.
CATHY WURZER: On a high note, we're getting daylight pretty fast.
PAUL HUTTNER: We are. And I'm noticing it even though the clouds have been persistent. We've had only like four sunny days this month. But we've gained more than 45 minutes of daylight now since the solstice in December. We're gaining 2 minutes and 20 seconds a day. So that's an hour in the next month. Sunset now 5:19 PM, Cathy. So it's light out there on clear nights until about 5:40.
CATHY WURZER: Yay. So that means spring is coming.
PAUL HUTTNER: Yeah.
CATHY WURZER: I know, right? So do we think we may see an earlier spring? Because now January is all messed up when it comes to temperature. I mean, might we see in early spring?
PAUL HUTTNER: Yeah, a guy can dream. That's for sure. Look, here's what's been happening that's interesting. Spring leaf out along the Gulf Coast and into Texas, up around the Dallas area, is way early already this year, 2 to 3 weeks early. And we are shifting from this La Nina into an El Nino. And that might, might signify a little bit earlier spring for Minnesota.
But you know how it can be, right? We could get snow in April. We usually do. So I'm hopeful that we won't see these kind of springs that we've seen in the last few years, where we get heavy snow into the first half of April.
What does look real probable is next winter, with this El Nino, if it kicks in, it would skew toward a warmer-than-average winter next year. So that's a long way off, a lot to go through until then. But that's the way the Pacific Ocean is looking right now.
CATHY WURZER: Let's see. Before you go, how about this major storm passing over the southeastern part of the US?
PAUL HUTTNER: Yeah, it's a big one. We've got an Ohio Valley storm, heavy snow, 8 to 12 inches, Illinois, Indiana, up to about Detroit, northern New England. Interesting to note, it'll be mostly rain in New York City. New York City, this is the latest snowfall on record. They haven't had any snow yet this winter season, the latest snowfall on record. It goes back 200 years if they make it to this weekend without any snow, Cathy. So it's been an upside-down winter in a few places in the US this year.
CATHY WURZER: Wow. So strange. All right, Mr. Huttner. Thank you.
PAUL HUTTNER: My pleasure. Thanks, Cathy.
CATHY WURZER: We've been talking to Paul Huttner, our chief meteorologist.
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