Cold snap through Friday; March warmup next week
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Cold, dry air and has settled in behind the biggest snowfall for the Twin Cities in two months. The chill will stick around through Friday. Temperatures return to seasonal norms Saturday. Next week brings more consistently warmer temperatures just in time for March.
Late February cold snap
As is often the case after a snowstorm, cold air has settled in. This is somewhat unusually cold for late February, however. Our normal high is about 32 degrees in the Twin Cities. We likely won’t even hit 10 Wednesday afternoon. We have the fresh snow to thank for much of that chill.
Temperatures slipped to 5 below zero in the Twin Cities early Wednesday morning. Hallock, in far northwestern Minnesota, dropped to a frigid 31 below zero. That fresh snow will reflect away up to 90 percent of the sun’s energy.
We saw 5.1 inches of snow Tuesday officially at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport. That is the region’s largest snowfall in two months. Most metro totals ranged from 3 to 6 inches with a few spots higher than that: 8.8 in Afton, 6.8 in Cottage Grove and 6.5 in Lakeville.
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The highest totals over the previous two days were across central Minnesota. McGrath, in Aitkin County, saw 19.8 inches.
Parts of Duluth saw 19 inches as well. Over toward the Ashland, Wis., area, Washburn saw an eye-popping 30 inches.
Temperatures will slip to near zero overnight Wednesday into Thursday in the Twin Cities and southeastern Minnesota and back below zero in central and northern Minnesota.
Thursday will again be chilly. Highs will mainly be in the teens in the Twin Cities and the southeast, with single digits north.
Thursday will also bring another chance of snow showers as a quick moving system sweeps across mainly southern Minnesota in the afternoon and evening.
Most Twin Cities totals will be around 1 inch or less but some spots in south central and southeast Minnesota could see up to one to 3 inches of fresh fluffy snow.
Highs Friday will be cold again for one more day before warming up.
By Saturday we’re looking at temperatures returning to normal, near freezing.
Next week will bring more consistently warmer temperatures just in time for March. Highs should be in the 30s most of next week and two-thirds of the models give us a couple of days in the 40s even, possibly as early as Monday or Tuesday.
