Warm, Sunny Thursday - Searching For Snow Miser

I'll take this quiet weather over a messy, snowy system this time of year! Highs will be 15-20F degrees above average in the metro on Thursday in the mid-40s under mainly sunny skies. That'll be after the day starts in the upper 20s.

Quiet weather stretches across the state on Thursday, with highs in spots up to 25F degrees above average for mid-December. Highs range from the upper 30s near Roseau to the low 50s in southwestern Minnesota.

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Friday: A mainly cloudy Friday is expected with the potential of a few rain showers working into the metro late in the day (more likely into the overnight hours). This system will bring a mix of precipitation across northern Minnesota. Highs in the metro will be in the mid-40s.

Saturday: A few lingering rain showers can't be ruled out early in the day, otherwise, mainly cloudy and slightly cooler conditions are expected. Highs will top off around 40F.

Sunday: We'll see a slow clearing trend throughout the day with highs climbing back into the low 40s.

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Searching For Snow Miser
By D.J. Kayser, filling in for Paul Douglas

Who hit the snooze button on winter? Not that I'm complaining... it's nice not to have to worry about snowy or icy roads for travel, nor have to shovel or plow the driveway. But when the first 12 days of December have been the 17th warmest (6.8F degrees above average), and areas like Wichita (7.8"), Topeka (7.2"), and Sioux City (5.8") have received more snow than MSP (4.5") this winter, you kind of have to ask.

It's a good thing the ski hills are making snow for at least some sort of winter recreation across the region - maybe snowmobile and cross-country ski trails could borrow some of those snow machines! A few rain showers are possible late Friday in the metro, maybe bringing a tenth of an inch or so of liquid, with a rain/snow mix up north. After that, back to more of the same: mainly quiet December weather for the metro.

Highs in the 30s and 40s continue through Christmas Day - and maybe through the end of 2023. Heat Miser has been found, but we might need to put out an APB for Snow Miser!

D.J.'s Extended Twin Cities Forecast

THURSDAY: Sunny and warm. Wake up 29. High 46. Chance of precipitation 0%. Wind SW 10-15 mph.

FRIDAY: Cloudy. Late day/overnight shower. Wake up 35. High 44. Chance of precipitation 40%. Wind SW 5-15 mph.

SATURDAY: Early AM shower. Clouds remain. Wake up 33. High 40. Chance of precipitation 20%. Wind NE 8-13 mph.

SUNDAY: Slowly clearing skies. Breezy. Wake up 30. High 41. Chance of precipitation 0%. Wind SW 10-15 mph.

TUESDAY: More clouds than sun. Wake up 27. High 41. Chance of precipitation 0%. Wind S 10-15 mph.

WEDNESDAY: Sunny skies return. Average high: 27F. Wake up 31. High 43. Chance of precipitation 0%. Wind SE 8-13 mph.

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Minneapolis Weather Almanac And Sun Data
December 14th

*Length Of Day: 8 hours, 48 minutes, and 22 seconds
*Daylight LOST Since Yesterday: 0 minutes and 37 seconds

This Day in Weather History
December 14th

1996: Snowfall exceeding one foot is reported from south central Minnesota through portions of the Twin Cities metropolitan area. Some of the higher snow totals include 15 inches at Rockford, 14 inches at Cedar and North Branch, 13 inches at Stewart and 7 to 10 inches across the central and southern parts of the Twin Cities metropolitan area.

1933: A severe ice storm hits southeast and central Minnesota.

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On Thursday, an area of low pressure near the Four Corners will bring snow across portions of Colorado, New Mexico, and western Kansas, with showers and storms into the central and southern Plains. A frontal boundary near southern Florida will spark a few storms. Rain and snow will be possible in the Pacific Northwest.

The heaviest snow through the end of the week will be in parts of southern Colorado and northern New Mexico, where the potential of 2-2.5 feet of snow exists.

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COP28 climate summit ends with deal to transition away from fossil fuels

More from CNBC: "Government ministers representing nearly 200 countries on Wednesday agreed to a deal that calls for a transition away from fossil fuels, after a previous proposal was met with heated and widespread backlash. "With an unprecedented reference to transitioning away from all fossil fuels, The UAE Consensus is delivering a paradigm shift that has the potential to redefine our economies," the summit's UAE presidency said on social media. Dubai, United Arab Emirates, has been hosting the conference for the past two weeks against a backdrop of controversy, geopolitical conflicts and increasing extreme weather events. "We delivered world first after world first," the UAE summit presidency said in a further social media update. "A global goal to triple renewables and double energy efficiency. Declarations on agriculture, food and health. More oil and gas companies stepping up for the first time on methane and emissions. And we have language on fossil fuels in our final agreement." An updated proposal published by the UAE earlier Wednesday, which was agreed on after all-night discussions, called for a "transitioning away from fossil fuels in energy systems, in a just, orderly and equitable manner, accelerating action in this critical decade, so as to achieve net zero by 2050 in keeping with the science.""

A New UN 'Roadmap' Lays Out a Global Vision for Food Security and Emissions Reductions

Arctic "report card" points to rapid and dramatic impacts of climate change

More from NPR: "This past summer in the Arctic was the warmest since 1900, contributing to disasters across the wider region, including flooding in Juneau, Alaska and a record wildfire season in Canada. Those are some key takeaways from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's annual Arctic Report Card, released today. The Arctic is warming nearly four times faster than the global average as a result of human-caused climate change, driven primarily by burning fossil fuels. Researchers say changes in the Arctic are an early indicator of what the rest of the globe can expect as the planet warms."

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