Updraft® - Minnesota Weather News

Season's first subzero temperatures for many Thursday morning

Arctic air mass blowing into Minnesota this week

Wind chill temperatures Wednesday afternoon
Wind chill temperatures Wednesday
Oklahoma Mesonet

It’s been a minute.

Last winter was the warmest on record for Minnesota. Temperatures ran a full 10 degrees warmer than normal last winter in the Twin Cities. The coldest temperature we could manage was minus 8 degrees on Jan. 14 and 15.

Fast forward to Wednesday. It’s already 11 degrees below zero in northwestern Minnesota, and wind chills are crashing into the minus 30s across northern Minnesota. (See the map above.)

Cold weather advisories cover most of northern Minnesota through Thursday morning.

Temperatures will bottom out around 20 below zero in the northwest Thursday morning. We’ll land around minus 5 degrees in the greater Twin Cities around sunrise Thursday.

Forecast low temperatures Thursday morning
Forecast low temperatures Thursday morning
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

Thursday will be the coldest morning this week. We recover slightly into the single digits above zero across most of Minnesota Thursday afternoon with a low-hanging December arctic sun.

Forecast high temperatures Thursday
Forecast high temperatures Thursday
NOAA

Highs in the teens will be common on Friday afternoon.

The weekend looks milder. Saturday brings a chance for mixed wintry precipitation across southern Minnesota. On the map below, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Global Forecast System model shows the system spinning through Saturday.

NOAA GFS model
Global Forecast System model between 6 a.m. and 6 p.m. Saturday
NOAA, via Tropical Tidbits

Highs Saturday moderate into the 30s south.

Forecast high temperatures Saturday
Forecast high temperatures Saturday
NOAA

Sunday brings a welcome thaw with highs well into the 30s south with some spots possibly touching 40 degrees.

Forecast high temperatures Sunday
Forecast high temperatures Sunday
NOAA

At least our first subzero cold snap of the winter of 2024-25 looks short-lived. But is it a preview of coming attractions this winter?

Stay tuned.