Barbaric cold: Wind chills of 50 below forecast for northwest Minnesota
Twin Cities temperature may hit 20 below zero this weekend
We all know it gets cold in Minnesota in winter. But this weekend's level of cold is downright dangerous.
Wind chills will likely approach or exceed 50 below in the Red River Valley. The Grand Forks National Weather Service office is alerting to possible wind chills of 55 below zero this weekend.
The story is similar in northeast Minnesota. Wind chills well into the negative 40s are expected this weekend up north.
In the Twin Cities and southern Minnesota, wind chill values will plunge into the negative 30s and 40s Saturday night.
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Wind chill warnings and advisories cover much of Minnesota once again overnight into Friday.
Including the cities of Crookston, East Grand Forks, Ada, Twin Valley, Halstad, Hallock, Karlstad, Lancaster, Roseau, Warroad, Greenbush, Baudette, Warren, Stephen, Argyle, Newfolden, Middle River, Grygla, Red Lake, Redby, Ponemah, Thief River Falls, Red Lake Falls, Fosston, Fertile, McIntosh, Erskine, Bagley, Clearbrook, Bemidji, Mahnomen, Naytahwaush, Waubun, Alida, Ebro, Lake Itasca, Long Lost Lake, Lower Rice Lake, Roy Lake, Upper Rice Lake, Cando, Langdon, Cavalier, Walhalla, Drayton, Pembina, Neche, St. Thomas, Fort Totten, Maddock, Leeds, Minnewaukan, Devils Lake, Grafton, Park River, New Rockford, Lakota, Mcville, Aneta, Tolna, Grand Forks, Cooperstown, Finley, Hope, Mayville, Hillsboro, Hatton, Portland, Edinburg, Adams, and Lankin
331 AM CST Thu Feb 11 2021
...WIND CHILL WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL NOON CST SUNDAY...
* WHAT...Dangerously cold wind chills. Wind chills as low as 50 below zero.
* WHERE...Portions of north central and northwest Minnesota and northeast and southeast North Dakota.
* WHEN...Until noon CST Sunday.
* IMPACTS...The dangerously cold wind chills could cause frostbite on exposed skin in as little as 5 minutes.
Twin Cities: Minus 20 this weekend
The core of the coldest air with this Arctic outbreak arrives Saturday through President’s Day. The American GFS model continues to crank out low temperatures colder than minus 20 for the Twin Cities and southern Minnesota Sunday morning.
Even the conservative European model cranks out minus 20 for the Twin Cites Monday morning. Here are the forecast numbers from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
Cold eases next week
The upper air pattern will gradually change to a milder flow pattern next week. Highs should recover into the teens above zero next week. There are signs that much milder Pacific air may return in the last days of February. NOAA’s GFS 16-day outlook prints out temperatures back into the 30s, and even one day in the 40s in late February.
46 in late February? We’ll probably see people in shorts after this weekend’s cold outbreak.