Frigid temperatures this weekend prompt cold weather advisories

MPR News helps you turn down the noise and build shared understanding. Turn up your support for this public resource and keep trusted journalism accessible to all. 

Turn Up Your Support

Tuesday’s blustery chill left no doubt that we’re heading into late October in Minnesota. And it could be the start of a La Niña-driven weather pattern that may dominate most of the upcoming winter season.

Water temperatures in the tropical Pacific Ocean are cooling. You can see the start of that trend in this animation of sea surface temperature anomalies (differences from normal) off the coast of South America over the past several weeks.

 has identified the presence of La Niña conditions and is forecasting La Niña to persist into the upcoming winter season.

For Minnesota and the Upper Midwest, La Niña produces colder than normal temperatures in about 70 percent of winters, historically. 

NOAA’s latest 90-day temperature outlook released Tuesday shows equal chances of above and below normal temperatures from November through January.

That’s a change from outlooks that have (accurately) predicted warmer than normal temperatures in our region for the past few months.

NOAA’s precipitation outlook now slightly favors wetter than normal conditions from November through January.

So it’s looking quite possible that our 2025-26 snow season gets off to a good start as we head into the next couple months.

Weather and Climate News

Updraft® - Minnesota Weather News

Paul Huttner

Author

Our seasonal weather change could be the start of a more typical La Niña winter weather pattern ahead.

Seasonal outlooks trending colder and snowier heading into winter

Go Deeper.

Like this?