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Cold Thursday - Warmer Weather Awaits For The Weekend

Canadian high pressure slides in again for Thursday, only keeping highs in the single digits and teens for most locations across the state. Snow awaits for Friday, but warmer temperatures also return - and then stick around for the weekend. - D.J. Kayser

By D.J. Kayser

February 17, 2022 at 12:00AM

(The Minnesota Star Tribune)

Wind Chill Advisories Up North Thursday Morning

(The Minnesota Star Tribune)

Another chilly Thursday morning sets itself up, especially across northern Minnesota as lows there dip into the -10s and -20s, feeling more like the -30s.

(The Minnesota Star Tribune)

Due to the expected wind chill values up north Wednesday Night into Thursday morning, Wind Chill Advisories have been issued.

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Chilly Thursday Outlook

(The Minnesota Star Tribune)

The good news on Thursday is that we'll see sunny skies. The bad news? Canadian high pressure is in place behind that system that is passing to our south, leading to temperatures not climbing too much during the day. While we start off just barely above zero in the early morning hours, highs will only climb to around 10F.

(The Minnesota Star Tribune)

So we have that Canadian High in place once again on Thursday. That leads to those sunny skies in the forecast... but also those cold conditions as well, as highs only make it into the single digits (above zero!!) across much of the state.

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Friday Snow Potential

(The Minnesota Star Tribune)

Forecast loop above from Midnight Thursday Night to 6 PM Friday.

As a clipper system moves near the International Border Thursday Night into Friday, our next snow chance moves into the state. More concentrated chances of snow will occur across northern Minnesota during this time frame, but some scattered snow showers will work their way south as we head into Friday. At least 1-3" of snow could fall in northern Minnesota where that concentrated snow is, with lesser amounts as you head south as those snow showers become more isolated.

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Warmer Weekend Weather

(The Minnesota Star Tribune)

The good news heading into Friday and the weekend will be warmer weather! With those snow showers on Friday, highs will climb to around 30F. Highs around 30F continue Saturday behind that system (breaking news: no big blast of cold air behind a clipper this time!) with mainly sunny skies and west to southwest winds up to 15 mph. Temperatures will actually stay steady or slightly climb as we head through Saturday Night, and with mainly cloudy skies Sunday we'll see highs climb into the upper 30s.

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Snow Chances Early Next Week

(The Minnesota Star Tribune)

Forecast loop: Midnight Sunday Night to Noon Wednesday.

As we work into early next week, we do see a few more chances of snow start to work their way through central and southern Minnesota. Too early to tell how much could fall, but there is some confidence in those snow chances increasing. Stay tuned the next several days!

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Snow So Far This Winter

(The Minnesota Star Tribune)

Looking at snowfall across the state so far this winter season, we are actually 2" above average in MSP with our 36.8" of snow so far. St. Cloud is also 5" above average, but areas like International Falls and Duluth are just a few inches below average. Rochester is over a foot below average, and areas of South Dakota and southern Wisconsin are one and a half feet to two feet below average.

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Is Retiring in Minnesota a Safer Bet?
By Paul Douglas

Where should I retire in 2050. Scottsdale, Arizona? Naples, Florida? Brainerd, Minnesota? No smirking. The last 22 years in the southwestern U.S. were the driest since at least 800 A.D. It's only a matter of time before a big city runs out of water.

We bought a cabin on a Minnesota lake, but near the ocean? No. We rent. NOAA says sea levels are rising faster than anytime in the last 3,000 years. Studies predict another 1-foot rise by 2050, as much in the next three decades as over the last century. All things considered Minnesota is a relatively safe bet.

Yeah, winters are tough. Snow melts. Temperatures mellow. A well-earned spring is coming. Numbing sunshine today gives way to 30s Friday with a little snow later in the day. More significant snow is possible Monday and Tuesday of next week. It's too early to speculate about amounts, but you're telling me there's a chance? Yes.

No Polar Vortex this month (whew...) but we will have to wait until March for an extended thaw in these parts. Yes, we are due.

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Paul's Extended Twin Cities Forecast

THURSDAY: Sunny and numb. Wake up 0. High 10. Chance of precipitation 0%. Wind NW 10-15 mph.

FRIDAY: Windy and milder. PM snowy coating? Wake up 3. High 33. Chance of precipitation 60%. Wind SW 15-30 mph.

SATURDAY: Partly sunny and dry. Wake up -1. High 28. Chance of precipitation 10%. Wind S 10-20 mph.

SUNDAY: Mild with fading sunshine. Wake up 27. High 37. Chance of precipitation 20%. Wind NW 7-12 mph.

MONDAY: Few inches of snow possible. Wake up 11. High 16. Chance of precipitation 70%. Wind NE 10-20 mph.

TUESDAY: Cold storm. More accumulating snow? Wake up 6. High 12. Chance of precipitation 80%. Wind N 10-20 mph.

WEDNESDAY: Some sun with better travel. Wake up -3. High 8. Chance of precipitation 10%. Wind NW 5-10 mph.

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Minneapolis Weather Almanac And Sun Data
February 17th

(The Minnesota Star Tribune)

*Length Of Day: 10 hours, 33 minutes, and 24 seconds
*Daylight GAINED Since Yesterday: 2 minutes and 57 seconds

*When Do We See 11 Hours Of Daylight: February 26th (11 hours, 0 minutes, 39 seconds)
*Next Sunrise At/Before 7:00 AM: February 23rd (7:00 AM)
*Next Sunset At/After 6:00 PM: March 1st (6:00 PM)

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This Day in Weather History
February 17th

1981: Warm weather continues across Minnesota with a record high of 55 in the Twin Cities. Crocuses were blooming.

1894: The Minneapolis Weather Bureau journal notes: 'Sleighing is very poor, about half of the vehicles are on wheels'.

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National Weather Forecast

(The Minnesota Star Tribune)

From Thursday into Thursday Night, a complex storm will bring snow and icing from the Southern Plains to New England, and showers and storms across the Deep South, Southeast, and into the Northeast. A few of the storms from the Ohio Valley to the lower Mississippi Valley could be on the strong side.

(The Minnesota Star Tribune)

That system stretching from the central to the Northeastern United States will continue to produce several inches of snow (with a band of at least 4-8") and some icing (0.1-0.2" in some locations) through the end of the week.

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Corn-Based Ethanol May Be Worse For the Climate Than Gasoline, a New Study Finds

More from Inside Climate News: "Ethanol made from corn grown across millions of acres of American farmland has become the country's premier renewable fuel, touted as a low-carbon alternative to traditional gasoline and a key component of the country's efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. But a new study, published this week, finds that corn-based ethanol may actually be worse for the climate than fossil-based gasoline, and has other environmental downsides. "We thought and hoped it would be a climate solution and reduce and replace our reliance on gasoline," said Tyler Lark, a researcher with the Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, and lead author of the study. "It turns out to be no better for the climate than the gasoline it aims to replace and comes with all kinds of other impacts.""

US sea levels will rise rapidly in the next 30 years, new report shows

More from CNN: "A new report provides an alarming forecast for the US: Sea level will rise as much in the next 30 years as it did in the past 100 — increasing the frequency of high-tide flooding, pushing storm surge to the extreme and inundating vulnerable coastal infrastructure with saltwater. The interagency report, led by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, shows how scientists are increasingly confident that US coasts will see another 10 to 12 inches of sea level rise by 2050. The implications of that forecast are enormous. "This report is a wake-up call for the US, but it's a wake-up call with a silver lining," NOAA chief Rick Spinrad said at a news conference on Tuesday. "It provides us with information needed to act now to best position ourselves for the future.""

Study suggests climate change made B.C. floods at least twice as likely

More from The Globe And Mail: "Catastrophic floods that swamped much of southern British Columbia last fall were at least twice as likely because of climate change, suggests new research from Environment Canada. The study, now undergoing peer review, concludes that the likelihood of similar events in the future will only increase as global warming continues to upend normal weather patterns. "We do find substantial ongoing increases in the probability of these kinds of events," said Nathan Gillett, an atmospheric physicist and manager of the Canadian Centre for Climate Modelling and Analysis."

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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

(The Minnesota Star Tribune)