Cold Christmas clipper with 1-3 inches of snow — warmup in sight, though!

Loop from 10 AM Sunday to 6 AM Monday

For those heading out on Christmas to a relatives house, be aware that we will be tracking a clipper system that will dump some fresh snow on the roadways. This will start in the midday hours in northwestern Minnesota, quickly moving southeast through the day. Snow could start impacting the metro by the late afternoon hours, with about a three to six hour period that will see the "heaviest" snowfall. Lighter snow will continue to be possible through the overnight period.

At least a 1-3" snow band is expected with this clipper as it moves through across western and southern Minnesota. As temperatures stay cold, we will likely continue to see rougher travel due to icy patches on the roadways. New snow won't help that situation out.

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As we watch that snow chance later in the day for the Twin Cities, the other story we will be watching is the cold air that continues to be in place. Morning temperatures will start off down around -10F (with feels like temperatures in the -20s) before highs climb above zero into the mid-single digits (still feeling like the single digits below zero, though).

Coldest MSP Highs For Christmas Day

With an expected high of 6F in the metro, it would go down as the 13th coldest high in Christmas history.

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We will finally be climbing out of the Arctic freezer as we head into the last week of 2022, with highs that are expected to climb into the teens for Boxing Day, the 20s on Tuesday, and then the 30s for the rest of the year and the first few days of 2023. Unfortunately, we also could be tracking a system late week (Thursday/Friday time frame) that would bring a wintry mix of precipitation to the region. Rain/snow/freezing rain would all be possible, but there remain considerable uncertainty with regards to the system - so stay tuned the next several days if holiday travel has you trying to move about late in the week.

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January Thaw Arrives A Few Days Early
By Paul Douglas

"Christmas waves a magic wand over this world, and behold, everything is softer and more beautiful" wrote Norman Vincent Peale. Beautiful - yes. Softer? No time soon. The arctic tantrum is relaxing its stranglehold on Minnesota and our weather is about to mellow. A January Thaw arrives midweek with a string of 30s likely into New Year's Weekend. Neighbors will emerge from hibernation saying things like "You know - 30s feel alright."

Winds finally ease today - a clipper brushing the metro area with 1-2" snow tonight. 30s return by Wednesday and linger into the first couple of days of 2023. By Saturday the atmosphere may be just mild enough for light rain.

In the meantime, enjoy the greatest gift we can give each other: our time.

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Paul's Extended Twin Cities Forecast

SUNDAY: 1-2" snow PM hours. Wake up -9. High 6. Chance of precipitation 90%. Wind W 7-12 mph.

TUESDAY: Patchy clouds, not as cold. Wake up -3. High 22. Chance of precipitation 10%. Wind S 10-20 mph.

WEDNESDAY: Some sun, welcome thaw! Wake up 21. High 35. Chance of precipitation 10%. Wind S 10-20 mph.

THURSDAY: Mostly cloudy, feels like March. Wake up 30. High 36. Chance of precipitation 20%. Wind SW 7-12 mph.

FRIDAY: A little rain or ice possible. Wake up 28. High 35. Chance of precipitation 60%. Wind E 8-13 mph.

SATURDAY: Just warm enough for rain? Wake up 32. High 37. Chance of precipitation 70%. Wind NE 10-15 mph.

Minneapolis Weather Almanac And Sun Data
December 25th

*Length Of Day: 8 hours, 46 minutes, and 46 seconds
*Daylight GAINED Since Yesterday: 16 seconds

*When do we see 9 Hours of Daylight?: January 9th (9 hours, 0 minutes, 8 seconds)
*Latest Sunrise: December 30th-January 5th (7:51 AM)
*When is Sunset at/after 5 PM?: January 17th (5:00 PM)

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This Day in Weather History
December 25th

1996: A strong low pressure system which deposited heavy snow over much of Minnesota on the 23rd, pulled extremely cold Canadian air southward over Minnesota. The cold remained entrenched through the 26th. Temperatures fell to 15 to 35 degrees below zero Christmas Day morning. The Twin Cities and St. Cloud set new record low temperatures both days. In addition, the high temperature on Christmas Day in the Twin Cities was only 9 degrees below zero. Combined with the record low temperature that morning of 22 below, the mean temperature for Christmas Day was 16 degrees below zero. This Christmas Day set a new record for being the coldest day on record for the Twin Cities metro area, going back to the year 1890 when modern day records began.

1922: People are golfing on Christmas in the Twin Cities as temperatures reach the 50s.

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We continue to track some messy weather across the nation for Christmas Day. Lake effect snow will continue to plague the snow belts down wind of the Great Lakes, especially in New York state. A clipper system will dive south, bringing snow to the Upper Midwest/Central Plains and even some ice into the overnight hours. A system in the Northwest will produce rain, snow, and ice.

Some of the heaviest additional snow from Saturday through Monday will fall down wind of Lake Erie and Lake Ontario, where another 2-4 feet will be possible during this time frame for overall storm totals of up to 5 feet in some locations. The next system in the Pacific Northwest could bring over 3" of rain to areas.

SWOT mission to survey Earth's water

More from EarthSky: "We live on a water planet, with some 71% of the Earth's surface water-covered. About 96.5% of Earth's water is in the oceans. Earth also has water in rivers, lakes, icecaps and glaciers – in the ground as soil moisture and in aquifers – and in the air as water vapor. Yet, on a planet of 8 billion humans, nearly all agree that water is a precious resource. And, in a world getting steadily warmer, water in the form of floods and rising seas also carry an element of uncertainty, even danger. Now there's a new mission to observe nearly all the water on Earth's surface. The mission is called SWOT, which stands for Surface Water and Ocean Topography. It's a satellite that lifted off on its way to low-Earth orbit at 3:46 a.m. PST on Friday, December 16, 2022. NASA is leading the SWOT mission, along with the French space agency CNES. There are also contributions from the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) and the U.K. Space Agency."

The US has a new pollution rule for heavy-duty trucks for the first time in 2 decades

More from Grist: "Communities that have long borne the brunt of vehicle pollution are one step closer to breathing cleaner air after the Environmental Protection Agency finalized stricter emissions standards for heavy-duty vehicles on Tuesday. The agency's new rule, part of its larger Clean Trucks Plan, is the first time pollution standards for semi trucks, delivery trucks, and buses have been updated in more than 20 years. It will go into effect when 2027 vehicle models are made available for purchase. Although heavy-duty vehicles represent less than 5 percent of vehicles on the nation's roads, they are major emitters of nitrogen oxides, a group of polluting gases that play a significant role in the formation of smog. In high concentrations, nitrogen oxides are known to contribute to heart disease, allergies, asthma, and other lung diseases."

The Year in Water, 2022: Sharpening the Shark's Teeth

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Thanks for checking in and have a great day!

- D.J. Kayser