Frigid air departs after Wednesday morning

We’re waking up to some of our coldest temperatures and wind chills this winter in the Twin Cities metro. Temperatures are well into the teens below zero and wind chills are in the mid 30s below zero. Wind chill advisories out this morning statewide with wind chill warnings for much of northern, central, and south central Minnesota, including parts of the west metro. Any skin not covered up can freeze in 10 minutes, so be careful out there.

The good news is that we warm up pretty quickly today as this latest arctic blast retreats. Winds are already out of the south early Wednesday morning. By the noon hour Wednesday, we should be up around 10, near 20 in far western Minnesota.

High temperatures by 4 p.m. should top out near 20 in the Twin Cities and near 30 for a few spots in western Minnesota. Northeast Minnesota will remain in the teens, but still warmer than lately.

The warmer air rushing in will create winds of 10 to 20 mph from the south, meaning wind chills will stay subzero until probably early to mid-afternoon Wednesday.

Temperatures will stay fairly mild through the night Wednesday night into early Thursday. Another shot of colder (but not arctic) air moves in midday Thursday dropping temperatures. We will likely be a few degrees below zero again early Friday, with highs in the teens, but we should be near 20 again already Saturday afternoon.