Extreme cold warning: Coldest air mass in 7 years for much of Minnesota
Minus 50 windchills already up north; Twin Cities temps near minus 20 by Friday morning
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Welcome to the coldest days and nights of the year in Minnesota.
Our Minnesota climate and weather normals are made up of extremes averaged out over time. We’re living one of those extremes this weekend. The coldest air mass in seven years for many of us is invading Minnesota through Friday.
The last time we hit minus 20 degrees in the Twin Cities? Late January 2019. We actually bottomed out at minus 28 degrees at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport during that subzero run. And we endured three straight days of minus 23 or colder!
Ironically, it was close to 40 degrees above zero a couple days later.
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Not this time.
Our inbound arctic air mass has staying power this time. Temperatures will moderate slightly next week, but with highs in the teens in the south, we’ll still be a good 10 degrees colder than our normal high of 24 degrees in the Twin Cities next week.
Forecast models suggest temperatures will be below normal for a couple weeks with the next possible thaw the first week of February.
Yes, the trees and two-by-fours in your house can pop loudly in this kind of cold as the water in tree sap freezes and expands suddenly. But don’t expect the clickbait memes of exploding trees to send debris flying through our neighborhood this weekend.
And minus 40 degrees in the north and minus 20 degrees in the south can be a good thing. It kills a high percentage of larvae for pests such as pine bark beetles and emerald ash borers.
Arctic air is still keeping out the riffraff, as my dad used to say back in the 70s.
Extreme cold warnings
Extreme cold warnings cover the entire Upper Midwest into Friday and extend as far south as northern Missouri.
Here’s the National Weather Service bulletin:
Including the cities of St Paul, Victoria, Blaine, Granite Falls, Center City, Minneapolis, Willmar, Montevideo, Cambridge, Olivia, Rice Lake, Osceola, Gaylord, Ladysmith, Chanhassen, Madison, Hutchinson, Benson, Hastings, Shakopee, Chaska, Stillwater, Litchfield, Monticello, Hudson, and Elk River
946 AM CST Thu Jan 22 2026
...EXTREME COLD WARNING NOW IN EFFECT FROM 6 PM THIS EVENING TO NOON CST FRIDAY...
...COLD WEATHER ADVISORY IN EFFECT FROM NOON FRIDAY TO MIDNIGHT CST FRIDAY NIGHT...
* WHAT...For the Extreme Cold Warning, dangerously cold wind chills as low as 45 below expected. For the Cold Weather Advisory, dangerously cold wind chills as low as 35 below expected.
* WHERE...Portions of central, east central, and west central Minnesota and northwest and west central Wisconsin.
* WHEN...For the Extreme Cold Warning, from 6 PM this evening to noon CST Friday. For the Cold Weather Advisory, from noon Friday to midnight CST Friday Night.
* IMPACTS...The dangerously cold wind chills as low as 45 below zero could cause frostbite on exposed skin in as little as 10 minutes.
Temperatures and wind chills will bottom out Friday morning. We have a real shot at minus 20 degrees in the Twin Cities and southern Minnesota.
The coldest nooks and crannies up north may hit minus 40 degrees Friday morning with widespread lows in the minus 30s.
Highs Friday afternoon will struggle into the teens below zero in the north with single digits below in the south. Wind will diminish Friday evening, so wind chills won’t be as cold as Thursday night.
By Sunday afternoon, we’ll manage a few degrees above zero in the south.
Major snow and ice event in the South
A potent low-pressure system will ride the southern edge of our arctic air mass through the weekend. Six inches to a foot of snow will fall along a strips from the Texas Panhandle to the Ohio Valley and Northeast.
And ice accumulations over an inch may take out trees and power lines in the South.
This looks like be a devastating ice storm for much of the southern United States. Power could be out for weeks in some areas.
Cold persists next week
Temperatures moderate a bit next week, but we’ll still be running about 10 degrees colder than normal for late January.
I don’t see any big snow event on the maps just yet.
Right now, the first signs of a thaw on the weather maps is around the Feb. 4-5 time frame.
Hang in there, Minnesota!
