No signs of arctic chill the rest of January; ice safety reminder

I saw a few minutes of filtered sunshine Saturday afternoon before the clouds thickened up again. It’s been so cloudy lately that it seemed bright enough for sunglasses, but I had no idea where mine were. Mild January temperatures are often accompanied by mostly cloudy skies.

Our Saturday high temperature at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport was 33 degrees. That was well above our average Jan. 25 high of 24 degrees. I don’t see any arctic chill over the next week or so.

Temperature trends

Sunday highs are forecast to reach the 20s across most northern and central Minnesota, with some lower 30s in southern Minnesota and western Wisconsin:

The metro area tops out around 30 degrees Sunday afternoon, with light winds. Twin Cities metro area highs are projected to reach the lower 30s Monday through Friday.

The milder-than-normal weather will probably continue into early February. The Jan. 31 through Feb. 4 temperature outlook from the NWS Climate Prediction Center shows a tendency toward warmer than normal temperatures across Minnesota and Wisconsin:

Snow chances?

Areas of fog are possible late Saturday night and early Sunday. Far western Minnesota will have a chance of snow showers and patchy freezing drizzle overnight Saturday night. There’s a chance of light snow showers Sunday afternoon/Sunday evening in west-central and southwestern Minnesota, and possibly in parts of south-central Minnesota as well.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s North American Mesoscale forecast model shows the potential precipitation pattern Saturday evening through Sunday evening:

You can hear updated weather information on the MPR network, and you’ll see updated weather info on the MPR News live weather blog.

Ice safety

If you plan to venture out onto a lake this weekend, here’s a reminder about ice safety.

The ice thickness guidelines from the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources indicate that at least 4 inches of clear new ice are needed to support a human:

Here are additional ice-thickness guidelines from the Minnesota DNR:

UNDER 4" - STAY OFF
4" - Ice fishing or other activities on foot
5" - 7" - Snowmobile or ATV
8" - 12" - Car or small pickup
12" - 15" - Medium truck

Many factors other than thickness can cause ice to be unsafe.
White ice or "snow ice" is only about half as strong as new clear ice. Double the above thickness guidelines when traveling on white ice.

The DNR does not measure ice thickness on Minnesota lakes. Your safety is your responsibility. Check ice thickness at least every 150 feet.

Temperature, snow cover, currents, springs and rough fish all affect the relative safety of ice. Ice is seldom the same thickness over a single body of water; it can be 2 feet thick in one place and 1 inch thick a few yards away. Check the ice at least every 150 feet.

Additional info on ice safety can be found here.

Programming note

You can hear my live weather updates on MPR News at 7:35 a.m., 9:35 a.m. and 4:35 p.m. each Saturday and Sunday.