Winter‘s coldest temperatures so far may arrive next weekend

Welcome to Minnesota’s coldest two weeks of the year on average. Our normal high and low temperatures in the Twin Cities through Jan. 24 are around 23 and 8 degrees.

Normal temperatures begrudgingly start rising again in late January and February.

We ride the Minnesota temperature roller coaster again this week. Our early week cold snap gives way to a January thaw by Thursday. Then another arctic front blows in next weekend. That blast likely delivers the coldest air of the winter season so far to Minnesota.

Our weekend snow delivered between 3 and 6 inches across most of northern Minnesota. The Twin Cities picked up a scant inch in most areas, to 2 to 3 inches in the far northern suburbs.

Here are some select weekend snowfall totals:

• Twin Cities core, around 1 inch

• Stacy, 2.3 inches

• Chisago City, 3.5 inches

• Rush City, 4.3 inches

• Brainerd area, 5 to 6 inches

• Grand Marais, 5.9 inches

• Gunflint Trail (Golden Eagle Lodge), 6.3 inches

• Duluth, 6.7 inches

• Cotton, 6.9 inches

Subzero starts

We’re having fun with negative numbers early this week across Minnesota. The Twin Cities bottomed out at minus 3 degrees Monday morning. Here are some select minimum temperatures from Monday morning:

• Lake Kabetogema, minus 20 degrees

• Orr, Walker, minus 17 degrees

• International Falls, minus 16 degrees

• Grand Rapids, Hibbing, minus 15 degrees

• Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport, minus 3 degrees

Monday was our seventh subzero day in the Twin Cities this season. The annual average is 24 days below zero, so we’re a bit behind our winter average pace right now. The coldest temperature observed at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport so far this winter season is minus 7 degrees on Dec. 12.

Lows Tuesday morning will be in the single digits below zero in the south, and close to minus 20 again in the north.

Highs will recover to around 9 degrees in the Twin Cities Tuesday afternoon with highs in the 20s by Wednesday.

January thaw Thursday and Friday?

Temperatures moderate across Minnesota Wednesday through Friday. Highs Thursday and Friday will likely exceed 32 degrees across most of central and southern Minnesota. Highs Friday could reach 40 degrees in southeastern Minnesota.

Our late-week mild spell looks short-lived. Another arctic front blows into Minnesota next weekend. This looks like it could be the coldest air mass of the season so far for most of Minnesota.

Overnight lows could reach minus 30 degrees in the north. And it looks like we could dip into the mid-teens below zero in the south.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Global Forecast System model shows the cold surging south next Sunday into Tuesday morning:

The arctic front may drop a little fluff upon arrival but overall snowfall looks light again for the next week.

Stay tuned.