Cold snap will keep temperature below zero for 60 hours starting Thursday night

Bundle up, Minnesota. Winds from the north are about to plunge the state into the deep freeze, with temperatures likely staying below zero for 60 hours starting the night of Jan. 22.

And we are not talking about typical January nights, with readings a few degrees below zero. A strong high pressure system will allow temperatures to sink to near 20 below in the Twin Cities and in the 30s below zero in northern Minnesota Thursday night. Highs won’t make it into positive territory again until the afternoon of Jan. 24 in the Twin Cities, and maybe not until Monday north of there, according to National Weather Service forecasts.

Windchill readings will be even lower, the Weather Service said, knocking on the dangerous category of minus 40, when warnings are typically issued.

“It’s definitely another level of cold,” said assistant state climatologist Peter Boulay.

While the arctic blast is unlikely to set any temperature records in the Twin Cities, the cold snap will be notable, Boulay said.

“It’s hard to get to minus 20″ in the metro, Boulay said. The last time that happened was in 2019. Last year, the Twin Cities almost got that cold on Jan. 21, when the mercury touched 19 below, the lowest reading of the season.

It has been much colder in the Twin Cities in January. The all-time low temperature for Jan. 21 is minus 41 in 1888, according to Climatology Office records. The lowest temperature ever recorded in Minnesota was 60 below in Tower, Minn., on Feb. 2, 1996.

Since 1873, the temperature in the Twin Cities has remained at or below zero for at least four consecutive days a total of 28 times, with the most recent occurrence being a four-day stretch ending Feb. 15, 2021. Last year, the metro saw a streak of 66 hours of below zero temperatures from 7 p.m. on Jan. 18 to 1 p.m. on Jan. 21.

The bitter cold is arriving right on time for folks putting on the St. Paul Winter Carnival. The celebration marketing itself as the “Coolest Celebration on Earth” has battled with warmer-than-usual weather in recent years, putting a damper on some events requiring ice and snow. Last year, high temperatures were in the 30s and 40s during most of the event and even reached the 50s at one point.

Lisa Jacobson, executive director of community partnerships for the St. Paul Festival and Heritage Foundation, which puts on the Winter Carnival, welcomes the chill.

“It actually provide excellent conditions for ice carving, snow sculpting and other winter activities,” said Jacobson. “Since this is our 140th anniversary, whatever the weather, it will be truly special. We’re excited to embrace the cold.”

The carnival runs Jan. 22 to Feb. 1.

“This is Minnesota, this is who we are and what we do,” said Klug, 45, of Hastings, Minn. “I would rather be carving in the bitter cold than 40 degrees. I just remind myself why I’m out there doing this, and for me personally it’s all about seeing the excitement on peoples’ faces and making memories for the young families.”

The coldest air of the season arrives just in time for the U.S. Pond Hockey Championships on Lake Nokomis in south Minneapolis. The tournament drawing teams and spectators from across the country runs Friday, Jan. 23, through Sunday, Jan. 25.

Two years ago, organizers had to call off one weekend of the tournament because of warm weather and deteriorating ice conditions. That won’t be the case this year.

Before the brutal cold arrives, there’s a chance of snow on Wednesday, Jan. 21. After it passes through, temperatures will plummet.

Bone-chilling cold will grip Minnesota and much of the Upper Midwest for rest of the month, and possibly through the first half of February, said AccuWeather meteorologist Matt Benz.

“It could be a cold winter,” he said.