Cold, Sunny Thanksgiving - Wintry Mix Saturday

First of all, Happy Thanksgiving! A thankfully quiet weather day is expected for the Twin Cities today. I'm expecting chilled sunshine with highs only reaching the mid-20s during the afternoon hours.

Once you factor in the wind, gusting between 20-25 mph out of the northwest at times during the day, it'll feel more like the single digits in the morning hours and teens during the afternoon. If you're taking that football out for a little family game in the backyard, make sure you wear a few layers!

No precipitation concerns statewide if you're gearing up to go over the river and through the woods to grandmother's house on Thanksgiving. I'm expecting a lot of sunshine statewide with chilly highs in the teens and 20s - 10-15F degrees below average for most.

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Looking at the rest of the Thanksgiving holiday weekend for the Twin Cities, while a few flurries will be possible Friday the best chance of precipitation will come during the afternoon hours on Saturday with a mix of rain and snow possible. Otherwise, variable cloudiness can be expected, with some of the best chances of sun occurring Sunday morning. Highs will range from the mid-30s to low 40s.

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Cold, Sunny Thanksgiving - Wintry Mix Saturday
By D.J. Kayser, filling in for Paul Douglas

One thing I'm thankful for this Thanksgiving is a quiet holiday weatherwise. Today will be the coldest so far this season with highs stuck in the 20s, feeling like the teens with a stiff northwest breeze - a good day to stay inside and eat some turkey and mashed potatoes. Conditions remain fairly quiet through the holiday weekend with a light mix possible Saturday.

It's been a warm year for MSP. Through Tuesday, 2021 ranks as the fifth warmest on record. After today, highs will be in the 30s and 40s through the end of the month.

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D.J.'s Extended Twin Cities Forecast

THURSDAY: Chilly, sunny Thanksgiving. Wake up 17. High 26. Chance of precipitation 0%. Wind NW 10-15 mph.

SATURDAY: A few PM rain/snow showers. Wake up 25. High 40. Chance of precipitation 30%. Wind NW 5-15 mph.

SUNDAY: Morning sun, afternoon clouds. Wake up 26. High 36. Chance of precipitation 0%. Wind NW 5-10 mph.

MONDAY: Dry southern MN. Arrowhead light snow. Wake up 29. High 43. Chance of precipitation 10%. Wind W 5-10 mph.

TUESDAY: Sun/cloud mix. Wake up 29. High 40. Chance of precipitation 10%. Wind NW 5-10 mph.

WEDNESDAY: Cloudy to begin December. Wake up 30. High 41. Chance of precipitation 10%. Wind SW 5-10 mph.

Minneapolis Weather Almanac And Sun Data
November 25th

*Length Of Day: 9 hours, 11 minutes, and 40 seconds
*Daylight LOST Since Yesterday: 1 minute and 52 seconds

*When Do We Drop Below 9 Hours Of Daylight? December 3rd (8 hours, 58 minutes, and 44 seconds)
*Next Sunrise At Or After 7:30 AM: November 30th (7:30 AM)
*Earliest Sunsets Of The Year: 4:31 PM between December 5th and December 14th

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This Day in Weather History
November 25th

1820: Ft. Snelling is in the middle of a three-day blizzard that would dump nine inches of snow.

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A front working east on Thanksgiving Thursday will gradually spread precipitation from the Great Lakes to the Deep South over to the east coast Thursday into Thursday Night - but the Thanksgiving Day parade in New York City should be dry with rain moving in Thursday Night. Rain and snow will be possible in the Northwest.

Through Friday we will be watching the potential of heavy rain across portions of the Pacific Northwest and southeastern Texas. Particularly in the Pacific Northwest, rainfall totals of at least 3" will be possible - some of this falling in areas that have already been hard hit with rain this month. Scattered areas of snow will be possible - greatest in the higher elevations out west and downwind of the Great Lakes in typical snow belt areas.

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From The Washington Post: "Climate change has officially arrived at our Thanksgiving tables. As the past year has made even more clear, the consequences of a warming world have challenged farmers and food systems throughout the United States. Drought, blistering heat waves and raging wildfires have gripped much of the West, stressing crops such as wheat — the basis of stuffing, rolls and pie crusts. In the Northeast, the fastest-warming region in the country, cranberries are budding earlier, making them more vulnerable to frost damage. And in the Southeast, intensifying hurricanes, driven by warming oceans, are forcing farmers to move turkeys northward to drier ground."

Simulated Mars Base Got Kinda Rebellious, Worrying Scientists

More from Futurism: "One of the things that astronauts need to contend with when we colonize Mars is isolation. After all, they'll be alone with just their fellow crew members for months or even years at a time. Plus, it could get even get worse if a "The Martian" situation occurs and someone ends up totally alone on the Red Planet. Unfortunately, a recent long term isolation experiment on a simulated Mars base found that participants often get distant and rebellious as time goes on. A study conducted by Project SIRIUS — an off-world settlement test facility in Russia — looked at 17 isolation experiments it conducted that lasted 120 days each between 2017 and 2019, CNET reports. The organization found that the study's participants grew more and more autonomous as time went on, resulting in limited communication with mission control."

More Superstorm Sandys? Future Northeast hurricanes could be powerful, linger longer, study says

From the USA Today: "Hurricane season may be over for this year, but a new study says the monster storms will wreak greater havoc in decades to come, thanks to climate change. Specifically, by later this century, residents in the northeastern U.S. will see worsening hurricanes as storms arrive more quickly – but slow down once they've made landfall, researchers said in a study released Monday. Hurricanes producing catastrophic damage similar to that of 2012's Hurricane Sandy will be more common, the study said. Hurricane Sandy, known as Superstorm Sandy, smashed into the Northeast in late October 2012, killing 159 people and causing almost $80 billion in damage, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration."

Thanks for checking in and have a great day! Don't forget to follow me on Twitter (@dkayserwx) and like me on Facebook (Meteorologist D.J. Kayser).

- D.J. Kayser