Is it “darkest before the dawn” or “darkest before it goes pitch black”? I can’t remember. Both the weather and the news cycle feel overly bleak.
Winter is a necessary reset. It forces us to slow down, turn inward and prioritize the immediate. Maybe we need a “forced hibernation” to process the trauma of recent months. But we aren’t being buried; we are being planted.
Some good news: You may need your sunglasses with greater frequency. We’ve picked up 25 minutes of daylight since Dec. 21. By the end of January, we will gain 2½ minutes a day.
And based on 30-year climate data at MSP our coldest day (historically) comes Jan. 17, on average. Temperatures start to creep up again by late January.
We will see more (fresh) cold fronts in the coming weeks. The latter half of January will definitely be colder than the first half. Another thaw Monday/Tuesday, then a few subzero lows later this month. No big snowstorms in sight the next one to two weeks. Best I can do is a little rain on Tuesday. What a baffling winter, huh?
