Semi-arctic now, Pacific breezes return next week

Call it the winter doldrums. A blob of semi-arctic air settles in over Minnesota and the Upper Midwest all week long. Temperatures hover a few degrees either side of zero at night this week, and attempt to rally into the teens under bright sunshine during the day. Lighter winds. Little or no snow. Just. Plain. Cold.

• 9 days at or below zero so far this winter at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport

• 17 days at or below zero on average to date

• 23 days at or below zero in winter on average (1981-2010 averages)

• 12 days until pitchers and catchers report to Twins Spring Training in Fort Myers, Fla.

Getting off easy

Let's face it. This has been a fairly forgiving winter by Minnesota standards. As we enter the home stretch of meteorological winter (Dec-Feb) the weather numbers confirm what we've been observing in our daily world.

This is going to be one of the mildest winters on record across Minnesota and the Upper Midwest when the final numbers are in. We're running about 6 degrees warmer than average with just three weeks left in the winter season. Meteorological spring begins March 1.

Gaining daylight

We're rapidly gaining daylight this month, adding nearly 3 minutes a day now. We've piled up 1 hour and 22 minutes of additional daylight since the winter solstice on Dec. 21.

Sunset in the Twin Cities hits 5:40 p.m. by early next week. It's now light in the western sky past 6 p.m. on clear evenings. Good tonic for the winter weary among us.

Coldest in the nation

The coldest air mass in the lower 48 states oozes south over Minnesota Wednesday morning. We'll add another (barely) sub-zero start for the metro, teens below up north.

With little wind it won't feel too bad. I've tried to explain to those in warmer climates that zero with no wind feels really quite good. I just get that blank stare.

Status quo

That's the going forecast on the maps this week. Semi-arctic high pressure cells drift over Minnesota. A passing clipper brings a coating of snow to the Dakotas and western Minnesota early Wednesday.

I like the looks of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Global Forecast System numbers the rest of this week. We dip just below zero in the metro a few more times this week. Sunday offers a passing clipper that could bring another snowy coating.

Pacific breezes return next week

Temperatures moderate next week once again in this El Nino flavored winter. Upper air patterns shift westerly into a "zonal" flow regime, bringing a more moderate Pacific air mass source region east by Sunday.

GFS data shows another bubble of Pacific air a good 10 degrees warmer than average funneling eastward early next week.

Here's the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts breakdown for next week. Some Sunday snow gives way to rising temps and a likely thaw by next Wednesday and Thursday.

Stay tuned as we fine tune Sunday's snow potential and the magnitude of next week's warm up.

Atlantic "Bomb" causes harrowing cruise ship ride

Who would take a cruise out of New York in February anyway? All kidding aside, it was a terrifying ride as this cruise ship sailed directly into the path of an explosive low pressure storm off the Carolina coast on Super Bowl Sunday.

Capital Weather Gang's Angela Fritz elaborates.

Some compared it to Hurricane Isabel, which was fitting because on Sunday afternoon it was boasting 100-mph winds — the equivalent of a Category 2 hurricane.

Unbelievably, there was a poor cruise ship that steered its way into the storm: Royal Caribbean’s Anthem of the Seas, a giant vessel that holds over 4,000 passengers. The ship was on its way from the New York City area to Port Canaveral, Fla., when it not only encountered the storm but sailed right into the heart of it.

[‘I was shaking all over': Four injured when Royal Caribbean ship hits severe storm]

What makes this story so inexplicable is that this storm has been in the forecast for days. Weather can be an uncertain science, but this was the one thing we knew was going to happen early this week.

One passenger posted an account of his harrowing journey to cruisecritic.com. “Captain tried to turn ship but waited too long,” the passenger wrote. “Captain said they are in communication with the coast guard, struggling to point ship into wind but can’t move forward. All passengers told to stay in cabins; water entered ship on upper decks, large white structure broke off top of ship, landed in pool.”

Record California heat

El Nino? Meet the Ridiculously Resilient Ridge cameo.

Temps push the 90-degree mark around parts of Los Angeles today and Wednesday.