Here were the high temperatures from Christmas Eve on Friday. The numbers with the "R"s on them were the records for December 24th. The high in the Twin Cities was 43F and fell shy of the 46F record, which was set in 1957.

Here's the weather outlook from midday Sunday to AM Tuesday. Snow will spread through the region with the heaviest expected to fall across the northern half of the state, where some 4" to 8" tallies or more.

Here's the extended snowfall potential through Monday, which shows some 4" to 8" tallies (or more) from North Dakota to MN's North Shore. The Twin Cities appears to be in the 2" to 4" range with lighter amounts in the south metro.

Another storm system will move through the Upper Midwest on Tuesday with more shovelable/plowable snow expected through AM Wednesday.

Here's a look at the precipitation departure from average since January 1st and note that most locations are still several inches below average, including the Twin Cities. The MSP Airport is still -5.83" below average since January 1st, which is the 54th driest January 1st - December 24th on record.

Here's the weather outlook for Minneapolis on Sunday, which shows snow developing during the 2nd half of the day. The heaviest snow is expected overnight. High temperatures will warm into the upper 20s to near 30F, which will be slightly above average for the end of December.

The hourly temps for Minneapolis on Sunday show temps starting in the mid 10s in the morning and warming to near 30F by the afternoon. Snow will develop in the afternoon with gusty east winds through the day.

High temps across the region on Wednesday will warm into the 10s & 20s across much of the state, which will be near and slightly above average across much of the state. A few folks in southern Minnesota could warm into the lower 30s, which will be nearly +5F to +10F above average.

Temperatures will warm to above average levels on Sunday and Monday before a MUCH bigger cool down arrives for the 2nd half of the week. High temperatures will be nearly -15F to -20F below average on Wednesday and Thursday with readings struggling to get into the teens. Overnight lows will dip into sub-zero range for the first time this season this week.

Here's the extended weather forecast through the last week of the year shows snow chances on Sunday and Tuesday before colder temperatures arrive for the 2nd half of the week.

According to the ECMWF & GFS extended temperature outlook, we'll be much cooler for the week ahead with a first chance of sub-zero readings during the last week of the year.

According to NOAA's Climate Prediction Center, the 8 to 14 day temperature outlook shows below average reading across the Western US and northern tier of the nation into early January. Meanwhile, much of the Southern US will running well above average once again.

Winters may be shrinking with fewer battery-draining subzero days overall, but a parade of industrial-strength arctic fronts is all but inevitable from late December into February.

NOAA data shows 6 of the 10 warmest winters for MSP have taken place in the last 15 years. I doubt a carbon-copy rerun of February's Polar Vortex, but we're about to get a taste of what a Minnesota winter can deliver.

After a brown Christmas things are looking up for snow lovers. Storm #1 arrives tonight with 2-5" for the metro, with a band of 6-10" setting up over central Minnesota. Storm #2 comes Tuesday, with another 3-6" possible in the metro by Wednesday morning. Storm #3 is possible next weekend but ECMWF isn't impressed, at least not yet.

Each snowy swirl of low pressure drags progressively colder air south of the border, and I expect highs in single digits and teens by Tuesday, with subzero lows possible by late week.

Not sure about you, but in December I'll take frozen water over tornadoes. Any day of the week.

SUNDAY NIGHT: Snow likely. Winds: E 10-15. Low: 16.

MONDAY: Windy with falling temps, some PM sun. Winds: W 20-40. High: 18.

TUESDAY: Potentially plowable snow PM hours. Winds: NE 10-15. Wake-up: 3. High: 16.

WEDNESDAY: Blue sky, a bit brisk. Winds: W 8-13. Wake-up: 8. High: 11.

THURSDAY: Coating of flurries possible. Winds: S 5-10. Wake-up: -1. High: 16.

SATURDAY: Cloudy, snow may stay south. Winds: NW 10-15. Wake-up: 6. High: 12.

December 26th

1990: Much of central Minnesota sets record low temperatures near 30 degrees below zero, while others had lows in the teens below zero. Cambridge had the coldest temperature with 31 below. Mora was close behind, with a low of 30 below. Other notably cold lows were at St. Cloud, with 29 below, and Melrose and Menomonie, WI with 27 below.

December 26th

Average High: 25F (Record: 52F set in 2011)

Record Rainfall: 0.60" set in 1880

Record Snowfall: 5.1" set in 1988

December 26th

Sunrise: 7:49am

Sunset: 4:37pm

Daylight GAINED since yesterday: ~ 22 seconds

Daylight GAINED since Winter Solstice (December 21st): ~ 1 minute

0.2 Days After Last Quarter

The weather outlook on Sunday shows above average temperatures across parts of the eastern half of the nation. Highs in the Southern US will be nearly +20F to +25F above average, where records highs will be found once again.

The weather through the early next week shows active weather continuing in the Western US with more heavy rain & mountain snow. There will be a couple of shots of accumulating snow in the Upper Midwest Sunday night and again Tuesday.

Here's the extended snowfall potential through the last full week December. Note that heavy snowfall potential will continue in the high elevations in the Western US as well as parts of the Upper Midwest and Great Lakes Region.

"In November 2021, delegates from nearly 200 countries met in Glasgow for the COP26 conference to discuss and negotiate policy around climate change. Significant victories included halting and reversing deforestation in 90% of the world's forests, cooperation between the U.S. and China to curb emissions, and language specifying the phasing down of coal — the first language of its kind in a U.N. climate pact. Although it's unclear if there is a direct correlation between climate change and phenomena like tornadoes and thunderstorms, there is an established and undeniable link between rising temperatures and heat waves, increased precipitation, reduced snowpack, flooding, fires, and intense tropical storms and hurricanes. Read on to learn about climate change and how it's affecting weather and other natural phenomena in the United States, which regions are being hit the hardest, and where these weather events are most prevalent. Visit thestacker.com for similar lists and stories."

See more from Baltimore Sun HERE:

Despite the second La Niña in a row, 2022 is likely to rank as one of the top 10 warmest years on record globally, the UK Met Office predicts. Why it matters: Every year since 2015 has been a top 10 warmest year in the Met Office's data set. Details: La Niña events are characterized by cooler than average temperatures in the equatorial tropical Pacific Ocean, which tend to hold global average temperatures down slightly. The occurrence of such events in consecutive years is known as a "double-dip" La Niña. The average global temperature for 2022 is projected to be between 0.97°C (1.7°F) and 1.21°C (2.2°F) above preindustrial levels, with a central estimate of 1.09°C (1.97°F). This would mark the eighth straight year in which temperatures have exceeded 1.0°C (1.8°F) above pre-industrial levels. Of note: In a sign of how swiftly and significantly the world is warming, the Met Office says that the El Niño years that occurred at the end of the 1990s, leading to global heat records at the time, now rank lower than 2021 and that 2022 will likely beat them as well.

See more from Axios HERE:

See more from Smithsonian Mag HERE: