Updraft® - Minnesota Weather News

Arctic cold Monday into Tuesday, then temps slowly recover

Snow and cold temps in Texas

The Monday morning low temperature at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport was 17 below zero, but I saw several minus 20 and lower reports from the suburbs. Much of Minnesota and western Wisconsin had morning lows in the 20s below zero, with several spots in northern Minnesota dropping into the 30s below zero.

Most of Minnesota and western Wisconsin will have Monday highs in the single digits below zero. A few spots in the Twin Cities metro area could briefly flirt with zero this afternoon.

Wind chill warnings continue until noon in northwestern Minnesota and far southern Minnesota plus southwestern Wisconsin. The wind chill warnings do not include the Twin Cities metro area.

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

A wind chill advisory will be in effect Monday evening into Tuesday morning from west-central Minnesota into southwestern and south-central Minnesota:

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Wind chill advisory (light blue) Monday evening into Tuesday morning
National Weather Service

Low temps Monday night and early Tuesday will be mainly in the 20s below zero:

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Tuesday forecast lows
National Weather Service

Parts of southeastern Minnesota and the inner core of the Twin Cities metro area may only drop to the teens below zero.

Tuesday highs creep a few degrees above zero:

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Tuesday forecast highs
National Weather Service

High temperatures will gradually climb upward as we go through the rest of this week. Twin Cities metro area highs are projected to reach about 14 degrees on Wednesday, followed by upper teens Thursday and around 20 on Friday. We could see high temps in the mid 20s Saturday and around 30 degrees on Sunday.

Most of this week is expected to be dry, with a few flakes possible Wednesday and Wednesday night.

Mild end of February?

We might end the month with a stretch of relatively mild days. The National Weather Service Climate Prediction Center shows a tendency for above-normal temperatures in Minnesota and western Wisconsin from Feb. 22-28:

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Temperature outlook Feb. 22-28
NWS Climate Prediction Center

Texas snow

A large swath of Texas saw several inches of snow Sunday and Sunday night.

The snow, plus patchy freezing rain, strong winds and low temps has caused power outages and rolling blackouts in Texas.

At one point on Sunday, every county in Texas was included in a winter storm warning. Even areas that rarely see snow awoke to a wintry scene Monday morning:

The winter storm now shifts northeastward. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s North American Mesoscale (NAM) forecast model shows the potential precipitation pattern for Monday afternoon through Tuesday morning:

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Simulated radar Monday afternoon through Tuesday morning
NOAA, via Tropicaltidbits.com

As of Monday morning, winter storm warnings extended from Texas to New England:

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Winter storm warnings from Texas to New England Monday/Monday night
NOAA | NWS

Another winter storm is expected to hit Texas Tuesday night and continue through Wednesday night.

Programming note

You can hear my live weather updates on MPR News at 7:35 a.m., 9:35 a.m. and 4:39 p.m. each Saturday and Sunday.

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