Wintry mix spreads across Minnesota

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After a cold start Friday, temperatures will head back up quickly over the next 24 hours. We’ll see highs in the lower teens, cooler than normal, but temperatures in the 20s and 30s return to Minnesota Saturday. 

If you don’t like the specific current temperature lately, just wait a few hours and it will either go way up or way down. Almost all of Minnesota saw subzero readings early Friday morning with wind chill values ranging from the minus teens to minus 20s. 

Expect a fair amount of sunshine Saturday with temps in the 20s north to 30s south and right about 30 degrees in the Twin Cities. The normal high for the Twin Cities is about 24 degrees. It will be a great day to get out and play in the snow and enjoy a winter weekend. 

We have decent snow cover, despite being slightly below normal for January snowfall. Normal snow depth for the Twin Cities is about 6 inches and we have 8 inches. 

Northern Minnesota is behind in snow pack. Duluth has 10 inches on the ground compared to a normal of about 15 or 16 inches. The only pockets seeing above normal snow cover are the middle of the north shore of Lake Superior and west-central Minnesota. 

If you’re a snow lover hoping for some big storms or really anything, I’m afraid you’re out of luck. Next week’s forecast models keep the snow track south and southeast of us.

Temperatures will be temporarily slightly cooler Sunday after a very weak cool front passes through late Saturday. Most places will see temperatures 5 to 10 degrees cooler Sunday from Saturday.

Monday will bring another swing upward in temperatures and likely our warmest readings yet in this latest stretch of milder weather. 

After Monday temperatures drop. We’ll still hang onto teens and 20s Tuesday but mid to late week will bring a return of some arctic air. 

It doesn’t appear to be as cold as our last couple of outbreaks, however. We should see overnights back below zero and daytime high temperatures in the single digits and even remaining below zero in northern Minnesota. 

Despite a cold January (temperatures statewide range from 5 to 8 degrees colder than normal), Lake Superior ice is way behind normal. This is likely a result of a mild December and a very mild autumn keeping the big lake warm. 

Our cold snaps this month, while cold, haven’t been as cold or as long as historic cold snaps. You need prolonged subzero weather to get ice to really form on the big lake. 

The back and forth with temperatures and the high winds that result, also have kept ice making difficult. The wind factor may be one of the biggest factors affecting Lake Superior ice. You’ll note that the other smaller lakes and bays do have more widespread ice since the winds don’t roar as much in those spots.

Weather and Climate News

Updraft® - Minnesota Weather News

Sven Sundgaard

Author

After a cold start Friday, temperatures will head back up quickly over the next 24 hours. We’ll see highs in the lower teens, cooler than normal, but temperatures in the 20s and 30s return to Minnesota Saturday. 


Temperatures statewide are below zero, but nowhere near as cold as Tuesday or Wednesday mornings. We’re mainly in the single digits below zero across the Twin Cities metro and even the coldest spots in the state are ‘only’ in the low to mid-teens below zero. Meteorologist Sven Sundgaard joins Cathy Wurzer to talk weather.

Weekend weather: Temps set to rebound; Saturday looking good

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