A mild weekend; we were bracing for arctic chill one year ago

The final week of January 2020 will be much milder than the final week of January 2019.

We’ve already seen our coldest stretch this January. Here are the official Twin Cities stats through Thursday, as measured at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport. The “DEP” column shows the departure from normal of each daily average temp (the average of the high and low):

Negative DEP numbers show days that were colder than normal, and most of those cold days were between Jan. 15 and Tuesday.

In January 2019, we had our coldest days toward the end of the month:

The official Twin Cities high temp was 13 below zero on Jan. 30, 2019, with a low temp of 28 below zero.

Temperature trends

Our average Twin Cities high temperature is 24 degrees this time of year, but the Twin Cities metro area will see highs in the mid-30s Saturday and the lower 30s on Sunday.

Saturday highs reach the 30s over eastern Minnesota and western Wisconsin, with some 20s in western Minnesota:

Winds will be light, so afternoon wind chills will be mainly in the 20s:

Sunday highs will be in the upper 20s in much of western Minnesota, with lower 30s elsewhere:

Twin Cities metro area highs are projected to reach the lower 30s Monday through Wednesday of next week.

The Jan. 30 through Feb. 3 temperature outlook from the NWS Climate Prediction Center shows a tendency toward warmer than normal temperatures:

We’ll see if that mild outlook pans out.

Snow chances

Periods of light snow showers are possible Friday evening in eastern Minnesota and western Wisconsin. Southeastern Minnesota and western Wisconsin could also see some periods of light snow Saturday morning, and a wintry mix might move into parts of western Minnesota Saturday night.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s North American Mesoscale forecast model shows the potential precipitation pattern Saturday through Saturday evening:

You can hear updated weather information on the MPR network, and you’ll see updated weather info on the MPR News live weather blog.

Snow depths

If you have outdoor plans this weekend, you’ll be happy to know that there’s plenty of snow on the ground across most of Minnesota. Here’s the latest snow depth map, courtesy of the Minnesota State Climatology Office and the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources:

You can see that snow cover ranges from four to eight inches in parts of the far south to over 36 inches in much of northeastern Minnesota. The official Twin Cities snow depth was eight inches this Friday morning.

Mild weekend temperatures might shrink our snow cover a bit, but most of Minnesota has plenty of snow on the ground for cross-country skiers, sledders, snowboarders and snowmobilers. If you’re looking for other outdoor — or indoor — options for the weekend, Explore Minnesota has a list of many events around the state of Minnesota.

Programming note

You can hear my live weather updates on MPR News at 7:35 a.m., 9:35 a.m. and 4:35 p.m. each Saturday and Sunday.