Fun In The Cold Weather
Thanks to @SusanMarmot for the picture below having fun in the cold weather with frozen noodles! With Sunday's cold weather in place, there should be plenty of room for more cold weather shenanigans. Enjoy!
Mostly Quiet Next Several Days
Here's the weather outlook through AM Thursday, which shows mostly dry and quiet weather in place across much of the Upper Midwest over the next several days.
Cold Sunday & Monday, Then A Thaw Risk
Here's the 850mb temp anomaly through the the middle part of next week. There will be some very cold air in place on Sunday and Monday, but we will be quite a bit warmer by the 2nd half of the week with highs approaching the mid 30s in some spots.
Weather Outlook Through Tuesday
The highs on Sunday and Monday will be quite cold with readings running well below average for early January. We get back close to average on Tuesday with highs back in the mid 20s.
Sunday Weather Outlook
Here's the weather outlook for Minneapolis on Sunday. Note that a wind chill advisory is in place through midday with feels like temps that will be in the -20s to -30s. Actual air temperatures will warm into the single digits above zero.
Meteograms for Minneapolis
The hourly temps for Minneapolis on Sunday show temps starting in the sub-zero range, but will warm to the single digits above zero by the afternoon. Winds will be quite breezy with gusts approaching 15-20mph, which will make it feel sub-zero all day.
Wind Chill Values Sunday
Feels like temps for Minneapolis on Sunday will be very cold through the day with sub-zero wind chill values through the day.
Weather Outlook For Sunday
High temps across the region on Sunday show readings warming into the single digits above and below zero, which will be nearly -15F to -20F below average for early January.
Extended Temperature Outlook For Minneapolis
The extended temperature outlook for Minneapolis over the next several days shows temps running well below average on Sunday and Monday. However, we'll get close to normal again on Tuesday and will warm into the low/mid 30s for the 2nd half of the week.
Extended Weather Outlook For Minneapolis
The extended weather forecast through next week shows another Arctic plunge on Sunday and Monday before mild air return during the 2nd half of next week. In fact, several days late next week could warm to the freezing mark or better, which will be nearly +50F warmer than it was Friday morning.
Extended Temperature Outlook For Minneapolis
According to the ECMWF & GFS extended temperature outlook, temperatures will be quite cold on Sunday and Monday before several days of milder weather during the 2nd half of next week and weekend. The GFS shows another potential surge of colder air as we approach the middle and end of January... Stay tuned.
8 to 14 Day Temperature Outlook
According to NOAA's Climate Prediction Center, the 8 to 14 day temperature outlook shows below average temperatures moving back into the Upper Midwest by the middle part of the month. Meanwhile, folks along the West Coast will be dealing with above average temps.
8 to 14 Day Precipitation Outlook
According to NOAA's Climate Prediction Center, drier weather will be in place across the West Coast in mid January, while more active weather will be possible along the Front Range and the Gulf Coast States.
Another Arctic Smack. Risk of a Thaw Midweek
By Todd Nelson, filling in for Douglas.
Hey, this news might be a little shocking, but today is National Static Electricity Day! Who knew? The drier winter months tend to be more conducive to those pesky jolts than the more humid summer months. Using a moisturizing lotion on your skin before getting dressed may help prevent future sinister zaps.
A wind chill advisory continues through midday today for feels like temps that will dip into the -20s and -30s. The face-numbing weather will linger Monday and early Tuesday morning before a modest warm-up brings us back to average Tuesday afternoon and into the 30s during the second half of the week.
Icicles will be dripping as highs flirt with the freezing mark several days later this week. Remarkably, it'll be nearly 50 to 60 degrees warmer than it was on Friday morning when many backyard thermometers dipped into the -10s and -20s.
Keep in mind that the next 2 weeks is, climatologically, the coldest part of the year. The last week of January our average highs and lows begin creeping back up. Stay warm out there!
Extended Forecast
SUNDAY: Another polar punch. Winds: WNW 15-25. High: 5.
SUNDAY NIGHT: Cold with a few flurries. Feels like -10F to -20F. Winds: WSW 5. Low: -7.
MONDAY: Lingering cold. Not as breezy. Winds: WNW 5-10. Wake-up:-10. High: 2.
TUESDAY: Near normal temps return. Winds: WSW 7-12. Wake-up: -5. High: 26.
WEDNESDAY: Hazy sunshine. Risk of a thaw. Winds: WSW 5-10. Wake-up: 17. High: 34.
THURSDAY: Dripping afternoon icicles. Winds: SSE 5-10. Wake-up: 20. High: 35.
FRIDAY: Chance of snow. Gusty winds late. Winds: NW 10-20. Wake-up: 21. High: 31.
SATURDAY: AM flurries. Brisk wind chills. Winds: NW 10-15. Wake-up: -7. High: 15.
This Day in Weather History
January 9th
1982: Both January 9th and 10th would have some of the coldest windchills ever seen in Minnesota. Temperatures of -30 and winds of 40 mph were reported in Northern Minnesota. This would translate to windchills of -71 with the new windchill formula, and -100 with the old formula.
1934: A sleet and ice storm hits southwest Minnesota. Hardest hit locations were Slayton, Tracy and Pipestone. The thickest ice was just east of Pipestone with ice measuring 6 to 8 inches in diameter. At Holland in Pipestone County three strands of #6 wire measured 4.5 inches in diameter and weighed 33 ounces per foot. The ice was described as: 'Very peculiar information being practically round on three sides, the lower side being ragged projectiles like icicles: in other words pointed. The frost and ice were wet, not flaky like frost usually is. In handling this, it could be squeezed into a ball and did not crumble.'
Average High/Low for Minneapolis
January 9th
Average High: 23F (Record: 49F set in 2002 & 2012)
Average Low: 7F (Record: -32F set in 1977)
Record Rainfall: 0.31" set in 1924
Record Snowfall: 3.8" set in 1924
Sunrise/Sunset Times for Minneapolis
January 9th
Sunrise: 7:49am
Sunset: 4:50pm
Hours of Daylight: ~9 hours & 00 minutes
Daylight GAINED since yesterday: ~ 1 minute & 25 seconds
Daylight GAINED since Winter Solstice (December 21st): ~ 14 minutes
Moon Phase for January 9th at Midnight
0.5 Days Since First Quarter Moon
National High Temps Sunday
The weather outlook on Sunday shows lingering mild January temps across the Southern US with highs running nearly +10F to +15F above average. Meanwhile folks in the Upper Midwest will be well below average as another surge of cold air arrives.
National Weather Outlook
The weather outlook through early next week shows a line of showers and storms developing along and east of the Mississippi River Valley late weekend and into early next week. Some of the storms could be a bit on the vigorous side with locally heavy rains. Areas across the Ohio Valley, Great Lakes and Northeast will see some freezing precipitation and snowfall.
Extended Precipitation Outlook
According to NOAA's Weather Prediction Center, areas of heavy precipitation will be found in the Lower Mississippi Valley through the weekend. Meanwhile, drier weather will be in place across the Midwest.
Extended Snowfall Potential
Here's the extended snowfall potential as we approach mid January. Areas of heavy snowfall will be possible across the northern tier of the nation, including the Great Lakes Region. There will also be ongoing areas of heavy snow in the high elevations in the Western US.
Climate Stories
"Climate change could enable valley fever to spread across more of Western U.S."
Fever. Body aches. Chills. It could be COVID-19. It could be the flu. But when a patient in the Southwestern U.S. develops these symptoms, doctors and nurses also consider the possibility of valley fever. It's a disease caused by a fungus found in soil. "And any type of soil disturbance, like digging in the dirt or high winds, can cause those tiny spores to become wafted in the air," says Morgan Gorris, a scientist at Los Alamos National Laboratory. "And that's when humans can breathe them in and become sick." Gorris says symptoms are often mild, but the disease can become severe. And it contributes to about 200 deaths in the U.S. each year. The fungus that causes valley fever thrives in hot, dry conditions, so for now, its range is largely limited to the Southwest. But Gorris's research shows that if carbon pollution continues to rise, temperatures could warm up enough for the disease to spread across much of the Western U.S. by the end of the century, including communities that have never experienced the disease before. So she wants healthcare practitioners to understand that cases could emerge and be prepared to diagnose and treat them.
See more from Climate Connections HERE:
"Why big financial firms are scooping up climate modeling companies"
Big ratings agencies such as Moody's and S&P Global, along with other financial firms, are vacuuming up companies specializing in modeling physical climate risks. Driving the news: The latest consolidation in the "climate intelligence" space arrived this week with S&P's purchase of The Climate Service, a climate risk consulting firm. The Climate Service analyzes physical climate risks, including extreme temperatures, coastal flooding and water stress, along with so-called transition risks, including changing regulatory and market conditions. Thought bubble: The consolidation in the climate intelligence space threatens to lead to an asymmetry of access to information. If you're a wealthy investor or large real estate firm, you can pay to find out which companies or regions will be safest from climate hazards, and make sound investment decisions.
"By 2030, Earth Could Experience Once-Per-Century Heat Waves Every Other Year, Study Says"
By 2030, almost all countries will experience "extreme hot" weather every other year due mainly to greenhouse gas pollution by a handful of big emitters, according to a paper published Thursday by Communications Earth & Environment, reinforcing forecasts that the coming year will be one of the hottest on record. Ninety-two percent of countries will experience "extreme hot" temperatures, or temperatures that would have been observed just once per century in pre-industrial times, every other year, according to the study. Without the influence of the five biggest emitters—China, the U.S., the European Union, India and Russia—only about 46% of countries would be likely to experience extreme heat with that frequency, researchers found. Tropical African regions will be most severely impacted due to their low temperature variability from year to year, the study concluded. The projections were based on emissions goals set before the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference, and researchers said that the scenario they predicted could be averted if "substantial improvements" were made to national climate policies.
