Meteorological quietude Wednesday; thaw coming
It was a treat to see, and feel, the sun break out Tuesday after what has been a rather cloudy stretch of winter weather.
The wind diminished during the morning, the blue sky was lovely, the sunshine was sparkling off the fresh snow and it was almost fun to be out there shoveling 10 inches of drifted snow from my driveway.
Now the roads have been plowed, driveways and sidewalks are cleared and a quiet Wednesday will settle in. Low clouds are spreading across the state to hide the sun, so I hope you got to enjoy it yesterday.
Some light snow will break out in parts of the Arrowhead but travel should not be a problem.
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The chilliest high temperatures this afternoon will be low 20s in the interior of the Arrowhead around Ely, Minn. Upper 20s will be common in the Twin Cities and southern Minnesota where the fresh, deep snow cover is a refrigerant.
Meanwhile, west-central locations, such as Montevideo, Minn., could reach the low 40s. Winds will be light.
Thaw coming
Much milder weather will move in and melt some snow on Thursday and Friday. High temperatures Thursday should range from the low 30s to the low 40s with the Twin Cities reaching about 35.
Friday will be a few degrees warmer. The Twin Cites area could warm into the low 40s. It will be a day not to wear your best shoes to the bus stop.
Head for southern Canada if you would like to enjoy a freshening of the snowpack before the weekend.
Cooler air this weekend
Colder temperatures will begin a southeastward trek across Minnesota on Saturday. Highs that day should range from the upper teens in northwestern Minnesota to some lingering mid 30s farther south.
We all will be in the chillier air on Sunday. Parts of northwestern Minnesota are likely to have high temperatures just in the single digits.
Next week
The cooldown will be neither severe nor long-lived. Milder temperatures will return, temporarily, early next week.
However, forecast models are indicating that the latter part of next week, through Super Bowl Sunday, has a good chance of being very cold, even by Minnesota standards.
It is a long way out in the future, meteorologically, but here is a plot of forecast temperatures for noon on Super Bowl Sunday, courtesy of the Global Forecast System model. It shows a forecast temperature of 2 degrees in Minneapolis at that time. Stay tuned for updates.
No major storms are likely between now and Super Bowl weekend.