Weekend thaw; southern Minnesota may see 40 degrees Sunday
12th straight year with a January thaw
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Here comes the January thaw, Minnesota.
Our weekend melt kicks into high gear starting Saturday afternoon. Southerly winds will blow in milder air. Some low-level moisture will hang around, so clouds may not totally clear out at times this weekend. But if we get any sun during the midday hours this weekend temperatures will soar.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s NAM 3 km model favors some breaks in the overcast at times this weekend in southern Minnesota. It will stay mostly cloudy up north.
Highs Saturday afternoon will push above the thawing point in southern Minnesota.
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Most of Minnesota will rise above freezing by Sunday afternoon. I still think temps of 40 degrees will be scattered across southern and western Minnesota Sunday afternoon.
Monday brings a good chance of light January rain across mainly the southeast half of Minnesota.
January thaws pretty common
This will mark the 12th straight January thaw; 2011 was the last time January temperatures couldn’t crack the freezing mark in the Twin Cities and most of Minnesota.
A January thaw is defined as at least two straight days with temperatures above 32 degrees. It’s happened about 94 percent of the time in the Twin Cities, according to records dating back to the 1800s.
Our 2023 thaw looks likely to last about three to four days. It’s interesting to note that in some years the thaw has been of monster duration. It lasted a full 18 days in January 1944!
