Coldest morning of the season so far gives way to a warmup

Early Tuesday brought the coldest temperatures we’ve seen since March. It will be warmer but still below normal Tuesday. Wednesday will bring warmer-than-normal temperatures. 

Coldest morning so far

Tuesday morning brought the coldest temperatures of the season thus far. It was our first morning in the single digits officially in the Twin Cities.

The temperature dipped to 8 degrees at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport. Northern Minnesota saw the first subzero readings the season. Cook had the coldest low reported at 8 degrees below zero.

Tuesday will be warmer than Monday but still cooler than the normal highs which range from the mid-30s south to mid-20s north.

We’ll also have increased mid-level cloud cover at times Tuesday. Winds will shift and come from the south and southwest, helping to set the stage for warmer temps ahead.

Overnight Tuesday night will be considerably warmer with temperatures only dropping a few degrees from Tuesday afternoon. Most locations will drop only into the 20s statewide.

Milder pattern; potential weekend storm

Our cold air mass is departing to the east, allowing for some modest upper-level ridging or warmth to push in for the rest of the week. That upper-level flow will become zonal, or west to east, making for milder days ahead.

High temperatures Wednesday afternoon will be in the 40s across much of southern Minnesota and 30s north. Those readings are at least several degrees above normal.

We’re still keeping our eye on a potential weekend storm system.

The latest deterministic computer model forecasts are shifting south but the ensembles — many different runs of the same models with different conditions averaged out — show southeastern Minnesota could still be affected. 

We’ll still need to keep an eye on that storm track and how much warm air is lingering in the region.