Coldest of winter so far: -43 in Embarrass, New Year’s Eve chill

"It's 20-below. That is not weather. That's an emergency condition." - Lewis Black on Minnesota

Lewis Black may have said it best about Minnesota's extreme winter weather. We wear our sub-zero temps as a (twisted?) badge of honor. Just think what would happen in L.A. or Miami if temps plunged to -20 for a few days. No doubt about it, local governments would declare a state of weather emergency.

In Minnesota it's still mostly business as usual. If you can take a little rough language Lewis Black's take on Minnesota's winter weather is good tonic on days like this.

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Embarrassed: -43 is Coldest temps so far this winter

Say what you want about being hearty Minnesotans, -43 gets our attention. That's what the thermometer read in Embarrass this morning. By my count, that's the coldest temperature recorded so far in Minnesota this winter season. Many locations in northeast Minnesota fell into the -30s again this morning.

Here's a look at the ridiculously negative numbers from the Duluth National Weather Service.

Temps will again dip to -30 to -40 tonight in northern Minnesota.

Happy Nordic New Year!

This will be one of those New Year's Eve's that test your determination to get out and celebrate. Temps will hover below zero tonight, and by the time you're thinking about heading home around 1 a.m. or so, it may be close to -10 in much of the metro, and in the -20s up north.

Times Square Ball Drop: 20s and breezy

One of my favorite things to do New Year's Eve is to watch the ball drop on 2014 in Times Square, and then celebrate the last hour of 2013 in Minnesota. For me, it adds to the excitement and revelry in the hour leading up to midnight in the Midwest.

It looks like this year will be chilly in New York City, with temps in the 20s and a west breeze. Here's the hourly breakdown according to the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts model, via Weatherspark.

Clipped again

Some light snow will fall today and tonight along and south of the Minnesota River as the next clipper rides in. There are some indications the edge of light snow could push east into the Twin Cities around midnight and into early New Year's Day.

Accumulations with our latest clipper will be greatest in southern Minnesota along the Interstate 90 corridor, where 2 inches to 3 inches may fall.

Cold hangs tough

Overall our involuntary Arctic vacation lingers this week. Temps will plunge well below zero at night, and struggle to recover to near zero during the daytime. One bright spot for those who would like some moderation? A warm front and southerly winds will boost temps briefly Friday night into early Saturday before the next cold front drops in. Temps resume the downward trend Saturday afternoon.

 Gaining daylight fast

Here's some good news for those who want more daylight. We are now adding daylight more quickly over the next few weeks as we pull out of the darkest days of winter. We gain about 8 minutes a week of daylight this week, and that increases to +16 minutes by the last week of January!

We gain about an hour of daylight from the December solstice by the end of January. Sunset reaches 5 p.m. in the Twin Cities in about two weeks, and on clear nights it will be noticeably bright in the western sky until at least 5:30 p.m. soon.

The days are already getting brighter.