Snow Tapers Off, But 35-50 MPH Blizzard-Causing Winds Become The Issue Thursday & Friday

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Forecast loop between 6 PM Wednesday and Midnight Thursday night

Snow will continue across the state as we head through Wednesday evening, tapering off in most locations by the morning hours Thursday. Snow will linger mainly in the Arrowhead throughout Thursday.

On Thursday any additional snow that'll fall will be up across the Arrowhead throughout the day and in far southeastern Minnesota during the morning hours. Skies will remain mostly cloudy across the region as we see the really, really bitter cold air settle into the region with highs in most areas not making it up above zero. Winds will be on the increase throughout the day, leading to those blizzard conditions mentioned earlier.

You can see those northwest winds start to increase on Thursday here in the metro with cold conditions in place. Temperatures will stay fairly steady in the mid-single digits below zero throughout the day with wind chill values in the -20s.

Thursday will be the start of "phase 2" of this storm - the blizzard conditions. Winds will start to increase across the state as we head into Thursday and Thursday Night, with the strongest winds (potentially nearing 50 mph along the North Shore and in southern Minnesota) late Thursday Night into Friday. This will cause hazardous travel across the state and could lead to power outages and road closures.

The strongest winds in the metro are expected during the day Friday when wind gusts could reach 40 mph. However, from Thursday through at least early Saturday wind gusts of 30+ mph will be possible, causing blowing and drifting snow.

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Bitterly cold weather remains in place, with highs that are not expected to make it above zero Thursday and Friday here in the metro. When you combine the air temperature with the wind, the coldest it'll feel like will be in the -20s and -30s.

As we look at wind chill values waking up in the morning hours through Saturday, the coldest (-40F or below) are expected out into western Minnesota each morning. Luckily many kids are already off of school heading into at least Friday if not Thursday (and, many have already been cancelled if they were supposed to have school Thursday due to the snow, wind chill, and blizzard conditions) so the bus stop won't be as much of a concern. However, if you're heading out for work or last-minute shopping make sure you are bundled up and taking all the precautions with the weather expected across the region.

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No snow will be falling from the sky Saturday across the state as we will continue to see quite chilly weather and mainly sunny skies. Unfortunately with temperatures still this cold (barely making it above zero in the Twin Cities, but closer to -10F in western Minnesota) road conditions could still be a little slick and tricky. Breezy winds will also continue to be in place - out of the west-northwest gusting to 30 mph.

Ready for a chilly Christmas Day Sunday? Clouds will be on the increase throughout the day across the state ahead of a clipper system that'll slide across southwestern Minnesota Sunday Night. Highs will only be in the single digits for highs across the state.

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The good news is that we will see warmer weather return as we head into next week across the Twin Cities, with highs back into the 20s by Tuesday and 30s by the end of the week. It definitely looks like a warmer New Year's Eve and start to 2023 than it will be for Christmas.

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White-Outs and Ground Blizzards Likely
By Paul Douglas

Most of the accumulating snow is over, but winds gust to 30 mph today and 40 mph on Friday. Wednesday's snowfall was light and powdery, prone to blowing and drifting, and visibilities will be close to zero at times through Saturday morning, especially outside the core MSP metro. With a wind chill in the -30 to -40F range the consequences of going into a ditch or running out of gas are life-threatening.

I still see a run of 30s late next week and consider this: daylight today will be one SECOND longer than yesterday. Ring the church bells!

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Paul's Extended Twin Cities Forecast

THURSDAY: Blowing/drifting snow. Wake up -5. High -3. Chance of precipitation 80%. Wind NW 15-30 mph.

SATURDAY: Brittle sunshine, less drifting. Wake up -7. High 3. Chance of precipitation 10%. Wind NW 15-25 mph.

SUNDAY: Fading sun, light snow at night? Wake up -4. High 9. Chance of precipitation 50%. Wind NW 8-13 mph.

MONDAY: Flurries taper, slow clearing. Wake up -2. High 11. Chance of precipitation 30%. Wind NW 10-20 mph.

TUESDAY: Mostly cloudy, not as Nanook. Wake up 4. High 20. Chance of precipitation 20%. Wind S 5-10 mph.

WEDNESDAY: Some sun with a welcome thaw. Wake up 17. High 33. Chance of precipitation 10%. Wind S 10-15 mph.

Minneapolis Weather Almanac And Sun Data
December 22nd

*Length Of Day: 8 hours, 46 minutes, and 12 seconds
*Daylight GAINED Since Yesterday: 1 second

*When do we see 9 Hours of Daylight?: January 9th (9 hours, 0 minutes, 8 seconds)
*Latest Sunrise: December 30th-January 5th (7:51 AM)
*When is Sunset at/after 5 PM?: January 17th (5:00 PM)

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This Day in Weather History
December 22nd

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We got Grinchy weather heading into Thursday. The area of low pressure across the Great Lakes will deepen as we head throughout the day, causing winds to increase across the central and eastern United States Thursday into the weekend. That system will continue to bring snow issues from the Great Lakes and Northeast down into parts of the Deep South and back into the central Plains. Some icing will also be possible. Meanwhile, a new system in the Pacific Northwest brings its own issues including snow and ice to areas like Seattle and Portland.

Several inches of snow is expected to accumulate around the Great Lakes over the next few days, with the potential of up to two feet in parts of Michigan. Out in the warmer sector, parts of New England could see over three inches of rain.

The greatest potential of significant icing with this system in the eastern two-thirds of the U.S. will be in the Allegheny and Potomac Highlands of western Maryland and eastern West Virginia where up to a quarter inch of ice will be possible. This would mostly fall on Thursday.

Forecast hourly wind gusts from Midnight CST Wednesday Night through 6 PM CST Friday Night.

As the next system moves into the Pacific Northwest Thursday into Friday, snow and ice will fall across the region - including in Seattle and in Portland. In some areas of Oregon, up to a half inch of ice could fall. This will greatly impact travel across the region and could cause power outages.

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NASA gets "unusually close" look at a black hole devouring a star and "leaving nothing but a long noodle of hot gas"

More from CBS News: "What happens when a star gets too close to a black hole? "Unusually close" observations from NASA reveal just how complex and catastrophic it can be. The agency's Jet Propulsion Laboratory said on Tuesday that multiple telescopes recently watched a massive black hole about 10 times the mass of our sun located about 250 million light-years away from Earth "tearing apart an unlucky star that wandered too close." It was the fifth-closest observation of such an occurrence, known as a tidal disruption event, and was first spotted on March 1, 2021."

US Postal Service commits to buying 100% electric trucks by 2026

Gas for coal? Debate rages on as electric companies invest.

More from E&E News: "Some of the largest coal-burning power plants in the nation are being fast-tracked for retirement and replaced in part by cheaper, cleaner renewable energy — a trend that should accelerate following enactment of landmark federal climate legislation. But in saying goodbye to coal, utilities like DTE Energy Co. and AES Corp. are proposing new fossil fuel investments they insist are essential for reliability at a time when electric generation is increasingly dependent on weather. DTE plans to exit coal entirely years earlier than planned — in 2035 — and it wants to retrofit one its coal plants, the 1,300-megawatt Belle River plant near Detroit, to burn gas. In Indiana, AES wants to repower coal units totaling 1,052 MW at its Petersburg plant in similar fashion."

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