Arctic cold will linger into Tuesday; Wednesday snow potential

Temperatures rebound later this week

Arctic chill is something that we typically deal with in late December or January. When these very cold temps pay us a visit in November, we have to scramble for our warmest coat, hats and gloves.

MPR News editor Andrew Krueger gave us a look Monday morning at the cold beauty of Minnehaha Falls in Minneapolis:

So, did we set any records Monday? The coldest high temperature ever recorded in the Twin Cities on Nov. 11 was 18 degrees, back in 1986:

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Twin Cities November climate data
Minnesota Department of Natural Resources

The temperature at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport was 18 degrees just after midnight Sunday night:

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MSP airport weather data Sunday evening/early Monday
saiawos.com

It’s still unofficial, but 18 degrees may end up being our Monday high temp in the Twin Cities since high temps can happen any time during the calendar day, not just during the daylight hours.

We may creep slightly higher than 18 degrees in the Twin Cities at some point Monday afternoon. These temps are incredibly cold. Our average Twin Cities high is 44 degrees this time of year!

Parts of far northern Minnesota will have single digit highs this Monday, with highs in the teens elsewhere in Minnesota and much of western Wisconsin. A few spots in far southeastern may reach the lower 20s before temps retreat.

It’ll be breezy this Veterans Day, creating wind chills in the single digits below zero at times in the metro area and southern Minnesota into western Wisconsin. Central and northern Minnesota will see wind chills in the teens below zero at times.

Low temperatures late Monday night/early Tuesday morning will dip below zero in parts of northern Minnesota, with single digits above zero elsewhere:

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Tuesday morning forecast lows
National Weather Service

Tuesday highs reach the lower 20s in parts of the south, with teens to the north:

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Tuesday forecast highs
National Weather Service

Twin Cities metro area highs are projected to be around 30 degrees on Wednesday, followed by mid-30s Thursday and upper 30s on Friday. At this point, it looks like we’ll reach the upper 30s next weekend too.

Northern Wisconsin snow

Cold air moving over the open water of Lake Superior will moisten up, resulting in some heavy snow amounts in parts of northern Wisconsin and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan:

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Lake effect snow northern Wisconsin
National Weather Service

We could even see some light snow bands downwind of Lake Mille Lacs this Monday in east-central Minnesota.

Wednesday snow chances

Portions of Minnesota and western Wisconsin could see some periods of light snow Wednesday into Wednesday evening.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's North American Mesoscale (NAM) forecast model shows the potential precipitation pattern Wednesday and Wednesday evening:

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Simulated radar for Wednesday, from the NAM forecast model
NOAA, via Tropicaltidbits.com

Check forecast updates.

Transit of Mercury

First a note of caution: don’t ever look at the sun without wearing special protective filters over your eyes. Mercury is passing between Earth and the sun this Monday:

A loop can be found here:

We’ll be in and out of the clouds Monday, so watching online may be your best option.