Happy meteorological winter: Mild bias continues this week but colder air is in sight

Welcome to meteorological winter Minnesota.

The months of December through February comprise the season of meteorological winter for record-keeping purposes. NOAA uses these climatological seasons to keep records more meaningful. Astronomical seasons change from year to year. Solstices and equinoxes can fall on different dates. So it’s much cleaner to stick with calendar months for climatological seasons.

Here’s more on meteorological seasons from NOAA.

Meteorologists and climatologists break the seasons down into groupings of three months based on the annual temperature cycle as well as our calendar. We generally think of winter as the coldest time of the year and summer as the warmest time of the year, with spring and fall being the transition seasons, and that is what the meteorological seasons are based on. Meteorological spring in the Northern Hemisphere includes March, April, and May; meteorological summer includes June, July, and August; meteorological fall includes September, October, and November; and meteorological winter includes December, January, and February.

Meteorological observing and forecasting led to the creation of these seasons, and they are more closely tied to our monthly civil calendar than the astronomical seasons are. The length of the meteorological seasons is also more consistent, ranging from 90 days for winter of a non-leap year to 92 days for spring and summer. By following the civil calendar and having less variation in season length and season start, it becomes much easier to calculate seasonal statistics from the monthly statistics, both of which are very useful for agriculture, commerce, and a variety of other purposes.

November finished 2.2 degrees warmer than average in the Twin Cities. It was the ninth straight warmer than average month in Minnesota.

Mild start to December

December opens on mild notes once again. Temperatures Wednesday afternoon peak in the 60s in western Minnesota, with 50s around the greater Twin Cities.

Thursday brings another mild day to southern Minnesota, but cooler air will sag south from the north behind a cool front. Check out the incredible record warmth for parts of Iowa and Nebraska Thursday afternoon. Highs will push into the 70s on Dec. 2!

Colder air seeps in this weekend with highs in the 20s and 30s across Minnesota.

There is a chance of plowable snow in northern Minnesota by Sunday. Stay tuned as we watch the track of that possible weekend snow system.