Mix Of Sun And Clouds Sunday... But It'll Feel Like The Arctic Outside

While we will begin your Sunday with some cloud cover in the metro, those clouds look to quickly clear out to a mix of sun and clouds by mid-morning, lasting throughout much of the rest of the day. However, clouds do look to try and increase again by the evening hours. Morning temperatures will start off in the mid-single digits below zero, only climbing to the mid-single digits above zero. Morning wind chills will be down near -20F, only climbing to around -10F by the late afternoon hours under northwesterly winds at 5-10 mph.

Clouds can be expected to start the day off in eastern Minnesota, with additional cloud cover moving in during the afternoon across western and northern Minnesota. Otherwise, partly to mostly sunny skies can be expected. It'll be a cold end-of-January day across the state, with highs ranging from below zero up in northern and western Minnesota to just barely above zero elsewhere.

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Cold Stretch Continues Into The Work Week

Brr - this Arctic stretch of weather continues as we head into the work week. Monday looks to be the coldest day of the stretch, with highs that may barely make it above zero in the metro. The good news is that the coldest stretch of weather doesn't look to last more than just a few days, as highs climb back into the teens for the middle of the week. 20s are even possible to return as we head into next weekend.

Meanwhile, morning wind chills will get down to near or into the -20s here in the metro Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday morning - so make sure you're staying warm as you're heading out the next few days.

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A Light, Refreshing Arctic Slap
By Paul Douglas

"If you survive February you should make it at least one more year" says an old crusty weather proverb from a potentially unreliable source.

Welcome to another chilling edition of numb and number! The cold peaks Monday as temperatures fail to rise above zero across much of the state. But this is no Polar Vortex; no painfully-prolonged stretch of negative numbers. Teens return later this week with a weekend thaw.

One benefit of arctic air? It is drier, pushed along by sunny high pressure systems. Minnesota's coldest days tend to be sunny, which helps to remove some of the psychological sting, for some of us.

It will be "too cold to snow (much)" this week with systems passing south of Minnesota until further notice. If anyone asks (doubtful) MSP's average high temperature just rose from 23F to 24F. A higher sun angle is finally counteracting long nights and prodigious snow cover upwind, over Canada.

Sunlight has increased 54 minutes since December 21. Spring is coming but I fear your results may vary.

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Paul's Extended Twin Cities Forecast

SUNDAY: Partly sunny and brisk. Wake up -7. High 5. Chance of precipitation 0%. Wind NW 7-12 mph.

MONDAY: Coldest day of the week. Sun is out! Wake up -10. High 0. Chance of precipitation 0%. Wind W 7-12 mph.

TUESDAY: Patchy clouds, dry sky. Wake up -6. High 10. Chance of precipitation 10%. Wind SW 10-20 mph.

WEDNESDAY: Mostly cloudy. Still numb. Wake up -1. High 13. Chance of precipitation 10%. Wind SW 5-10 mph.

THURSDAY: Mix of clouds and sun. Still bug-free. Wake up 6. High 18. Chance of precipitation 10%. Wind N 8-13 mph.

FRIDAY: Another pop of fresh air. Wake up -5. High 8. Chance of precipitation 0%. Wind NW 8-13 mph.

SATURDAY: Some sun, risk of a thaw. Wake up 7. High 33. Chance of precipitation 10%. Wind S 10-20 mph.

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Minneapolis Weather Almanac And Sun Data
January 29th

*Length Of Day: 9 hours, 40 minutes, and 18 seconds
*Daylight GAINED Since Yesterday: 2 minutes and 27 seconds

*When do we see 10 Hours of Daylight?: February 6th (10 hours, 1 minute, 13 seconds)
*When is Sunrise at/before 7:30 AM?: February 3rd (7:30 AM)
*When is Sunset at/after 5:30 PM?: February 8th (5:30 PM)

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This Day in Weather History
January 29th

1977: Due to the extreme cold, the St. Paul Winter Carnival is held indoors for the first time.

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National Weather Forecast

On Sunday, one system will continue eastward, bringing snow and ice to parts of the Great Lakes and the Northeast, with rain and storms possible from the Mid-Atlantic to the Deep South and Southern Plains. A system in the western United States will bring snow across the Great Basin and the Rockies, with rain in California.

The heaviest snow through early in the week will be in parts of the Rockies, where at least 1-2 feet will be possible. Heavy rain will be possible in the lower Mississippi Valley, where 3"+ of rain could fall.

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The Colorado River is overused and shrinking. Inside the crisis transforming the Southwest

More from the Los Angeles Times: "The Colorado River begins as melting snow, trickling from forested peaks and coursing in streams that gather in the meadows and valleys of the Rocky Mountains. Like arteries, its major tributaries take shape across Colorado, Wyoming, Utah and New Mexico, coming together in a great river like no other — a river that travels more than 1,400 miles and has defined the rise of the American Southwest over the last century. Water diverted from the river has enabled agriculture to spread across 5 million acres of farmland and has fed the growth of cities from Denver to Los Angeles, supplying about 40 million people. Harnessing the river's bounty has provided the foundation for life and the economy across seven states and northern Mexico. But the region has for years depended too heavily on the river, taking more than its flows can support. And in recent years, the river's water-generating heart in the Rocky Mountains has begun to fail."

This vending machine's secret to reducing waste? A hidden dishwasher

More from Fast Company: "This vending machine looks very similar to any other. But when you use it to buy a drink, your beverage comes in a reusable bottle—and when you're done, it takes the bottle back, sanitizes it, and refills it for someone else. "We think of ourselves as combining a bottling plant with a dishwasher with a soda fountain," says Manuela Zoninsein, founder and CEO of Kadeya, the Chicago-based startup that designed the machine. "And that's the first time that's ever been done." ... The first version of the Kadeya vending machine serves water in glass bottles, though the company will soon begin offering other beverages (it will also pivot to stainless steel bottles, which it says can last indefinitely). Water comes out of one side of the machine when someone scans a QR code, and the empty bottle goes back on the other. Inside, a custom dishwasher cleans and sanitizes the bottle."

Air pollution is changing how our brain functions, researchers at UBC, UVic find

More from the CBC: "Researchers at the University of British Columbia and University of Victoria have found that exposure to traffic pollution is changing the way our brain works. "Air pollution is affecting our thinking, which could have serious public health effects," said Chris Carlsten, director of UBC's Air Pollution Exposure Lab and one of the researchers of the study, published Jan. 14 in the journal Environmental Health. Carlsten says exposure to diesel exhaust for just two hours led to changes in brain function connectivity, a measure of how different regions of the brain interact with each other. The most affected regions are linked to memory and attention, he says. "[Changes in connectivity is] associated with reduced cognitive performance and symptoms of depression, so it's concerning to see traffic pollution interrupting these same networks," said Jodie Gawryluk, the study's first author."

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- D.J. Kayser