Colder Heading Toward The Weekend

After that quick-hitting snow Thursday evening, we'll still be left with the potential of some freezing drizzle for the morning commute Friday and lingering flurries throughout the day. The high of 30F will be set before sunrise, with temperatures dropping into the upper teens by the lunch hour and the mid-teens by the evening commute.

We'll continue to see some lingering frozen precipitation - in the form of flurries or freezing drizzle - across portions of the state Friday. Highs across southern Minnesota will be set quite early in the day, and highs will only be in the single digits in northwestern parts of the state.

Winds will continue to be strong on Friday, gusting out of the northwest in the 30-40 mph range in the metro and potentially approaching 50-55 mph in the Red River Valley. Blizzard conditions are expected in the Red River Valley from Thursday night into Friday morning.

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For those hoping our warmer weather this week has been a sign that winter is permanently on the way out... bad news: it isn't. Highs on Saturday will only be in the single digits after starting off a few degrees below zero. We'll climb to the teens on Sunday, but that's still chilly. The snow icons Saturday and Saturday Night look a lot scarier than it'll likely be as late in the day into the overnight hours some light snow is expected to move across the Minnesota River Valley.

Here's a look at Saturday morning across the state - not as cold as it has been earlier this winter, but another morning in the -20s is expected across northern Minnesota with wind chills in the -30s.

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It'll be a fairly quiet Valentine's Day evening in the metro, with temperatures in the upper teens to around 20F under partly cloudy skies. Winds around 5 mph will make it feel more like the upper single digits to low teens.

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Cold and Relatively Quiet Weather Lingers
By Paul Douglas

Let's review: frequent cold frontal passages [check]. Feeble bursts of snow from scrappy Alberta Clippers [check]. Tournament-worthy snowstorms [nope]. Polar Vortex [nope]. Fairly boring winter weather, all things considered. That may change as we approach March and a thawing atmosphere nudges the storm track closer to Minnesota.

Another big, beefy snow and ice storm should track south of Minnesota next week. Within 2-3 weeks subzero lows should become fairly rare, as a higher sun angle finally chips away at the coldest air over Canada.

I'm predicting a sweaty Sunday Super Bowl with L.A. readings in the 80s to near 90. More baseball than football weather.

Meanwhile the only snow you see on TV at Beijing's Winter Olympics is man-made.

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Paul's Extended Twin Cities Forecast

SATURDAY: Partly sunny and chilly. Wake up -3. High 8. Chance of precipitation 10%. Wind W 5-10 mph.

SUNDAY: Cold hangover. Few flakes around. Wake up -1. High 13. Chance of precipitation 40%. Wind SW 3-8 mph.

MONDAY: Some sun, slow recovery. Wake up 10. High 20. Chance of precipitation 20%. Wind NW 10-15 mph.

TUESDAY: Partly sunny and milder. Wake up 12. High 33. Chance of precipitation 10%. Wind SE 8-13 mph.

WEDNESDAY: Mostly cloudy skies. Wake up 28. High 30. Chance of precipitation 20%. Wind NW 8-13 mph.

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Minneapolis Weather Almanac And Sun Data
February 11th

*Length Of Day: 10 hours, 15 minutes, and 54 seconds
*Daylight GAINED Since Yesterday: 2 minutes and 50 seconds

*When Do We See 10.5 Hours Of Daylight: February 16th (10 hours, 30 minutes, 27 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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1932: Mizpah picks up 13 inches of snow in a storm.

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Scattered areas of rain and snow will exist across the country Friday - one across the Rockies and Plains and another in the Great Lakes, Ohio Valley, and Northeast.

The heaviest snow through Saturday evening will fall downwind of the Great Lakes where over half a foot of snow could accumulate in some locations, especially near Lake Ontario.

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More from CNBC: "The sun has been hibernating – but it's waking up, and the next few years may see more satellites damaged or destroyed by solar storms than ever before. Elon Musk's SpaceX is feeling the pinch of that solar threat this week: The company expects to lose nearly a full launch's worth of Starlink internet satellites after a geomagnetic storm disrupted the Earth's atmosphere and sent about 40 of the spacecraft to an early, fiery demise. But these storms are not uncommon, space weather experts explained to CNBC, and are only expected to worsen over the next few years. The sun started a new 11-year solar cycle in December 2019 and is now ramping to a "solar maximum" that is expected to hit in 2025."

The world is on fire and our leaders are failing, poll finds

More from Politico: "Adults across the United States and globally have damning opinions about the performance of their political leaders when it comes to climate change, and say they are noticing an escalation in extreme weather events and natural disasters. A new POLITICO Morning Consult Global Sustainability Poll reveals frustration from citizens that they are being left to take on climate action on their own, when they believe governments and the companies with the most resources (which also tend to bear the most responsibility for carbon emissions) should shoulder the burden. Consumers in 13 countries on five continents surveyed say companies should share more of the costs of combating climate change, including paying higher taxes. Fossil fuel companies, in particular, face the most skeptics."

TID lands $20 million grant to see if placing solar panels atop canals makes sense

More from the Modesto Bee: "The Turlock Irrigation District plans to use a $20 million state grant to demonstrate solar panels atop canals. TID would be the first water agency in the nation to try such a thing if its board votes Tuesday to accept the money. The panels would feed electricity into transmission lines already along the canals, helping TID boost the renewable sources for its 103,000 or so power customers. The devices also would shade the water, possibly reducing evaporation losses for farmers. The pilot project grew out of a study last year at the Merced and Santa Cruz campuses of the University of California. Researchers said installing canal panels throughout the Central Valley could get the state halfway to its goal for climate-safe power."

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