Updraft® - Minnesota Weather News

Coldest air in 8 months blows in; Thanksgiving week outlook mixed

Scattered snow showers continue

November snow at the Weather Lab
November snow at the Weather Lab
Paul Huttner | MPR News

Get ready for a January preview, Minnesota.

The coldest air mass in eight months blows in through this weekend. The flow over Minnesota is coming directly from the Arctic Circle. A lobe of arctic low-pressure aloft over Hudson Bay is in a perfect geographic location to blast the frigid air mass southward into our state.

Upper air forecast map for
Upper-air forecast map for 6 p.m. Friday
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

Low temperatures Friday morning will dip into the teens across most of Minnesota. Temperatures won’t budge much at all Friday and Saturday.

Forecast high temperatures Friday
Forecast high temperatures Friday
NOAA

Coldest air in 8 months

The last time the Twin Cities hit 10 degrees was March 12 when the thermometer dipped to minus 1 at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport.

We’ll bottom out Sunday morning in the single digits around the greater Twin Cities. Temperatures will hover around the zero mark across much of northern Minnesota.

Forecast low temperatures Sunday morning
Forecast low temperatures Sunday morning
NOAA

Thanksgiving week outlook

Recent forecast model runs have backed off on the magnitude and duration of the warming trend next week. Highs in the lower 30s for southern Minnesota still appear likely next week, so it will feel warmer than the upcoming weekend.

Forecast high temperatures Wednesday
Forecast high temperatures Wednesday
NOAA

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Global Forecast System suggests a chance of (light?) rain or snow now for Thanksgiving Day, so that will have to be watched.

Overall temperatures next week are likely to be near or slightly below average in Minnesota.

NOAA 6 to 10-day temperature outlook
NOAA 6 to 10-day temperature outlook
NOAA

November is the cloudiest month of the year on average in Minnesota. We see sunshine an average of just 39 percent of the time this month. Once we get snow cover in November with the lower sun angle and frequent clouds, it can be tough to shake a wintry weather pattern.

Stay tuned.