This may warrant a few scribbles in my musty diary, where I track pleasant surprises, however rare.
First, a disclaimer: There's no way to keep all the people happy all of the time. Don't even try. But the next one to two weeks may bring the "Goldilocks Principle." Not too warm, not too cold, not too snowy. Just right for a critical mass of Minnesotans.
Although no big snowstorms are brewing, temperatures will be (just) cold enough to keep most of the snow already on the ground. No risk of a subzero night until the second week of February — a far cry from last winter, when polar vortex was all the rage. When you consider we could easily be 15 below and waist-deep in snow, this isn't bad at all.
Temperatures will run 5 to 15F above average into the first week of February with plenty of clouds. A few inches of slushy snow may fall Friday, but the pattern isn't ripe for big, sloppy southern storms anytime soon.
Winter is far from over, but late January tends to test a man's soul. A woman's, too. But in 2020? Not so much.
