Prompts winter weather advisories as cold air moves in Friday night

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The first 10 days of December are off to a balmy start in Minnesota. It’s an ocean of warm colors on the monthly temperature map above.

Temperatures are running about 10 degrees warmer than average through Dec. 10 in the Twin Cities. It’s been closer to 12 degrees above average so far this month in International Falls along the Canadian border. The Red River Valley is running close to 15 degrees warmer than average so far in December. 

A bubble of relative warmth continues to be anchored over the Upper Midwest Thursday.

Ships are steaming into a placid, ice-free harbor in Duluth this month. No gales of November. Or December.

A more seasonable air mass is pushing southeast through Minnesota Thursday. Temperatures behind the front are in the 30s. That’s still a few degrees above average for the region Thursday.

We’re probably done with the 50s now for the rest of the winter season in Minnesota. A colder air mass will drop highs into the 30s south with 20s north for the next week or so.

The average high and low in the Twin Cities by Saturday are 28 and 13 degrees. NOAA’s six- to 10-day outlook favors temperatures closer to average next week.

Weather and Climate News

Updraft® - Minnesota Weather News

Paul Huttner

Author

The first 10 days of December are off to a balmy start in Minnesota. A cold front passing through Minnesota is bringing cooler air. But temperatures will remain slightly above average through most of next week.

Balmy December: Temperatures 10 to 15 degrees warmer than average so far this month

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