Monday marked the coldest high on Nov. 11 in three decades in the Twin Cities. At midnight, the temperature reached a high of 18 degrees, tying the coldest high record set in 1986.

Some people are taking their complaints straight to the National Weather Service.

"People are not wanting this to happen so early," NWS meteorologist Todd Krause said Monday night. "We're going to get enough of this in December, January and February."

New lowest-high records were set across northern Minnesota as an arctic air mass moved through the state and much of the country. Hibbing's high was 9 degrees and Brainerd's was 14, smashing 1986 records. Duluth tied a record-cold high of 16, set in 1920.

Looking back at weather in the Twin Cities the last three decades, Monday was an outlier — the high didn't even touch recorded lows.

Temps on Nov. 11 have been all over the map. In 1986, temps dipped to minus 1. In 2005, a balmy 64-degree high dropped to a 35-degree low.

The average high this time of year is in the 40s, so even though Monday wasn't record-breaking in the Twin Cities, the arctic blast is pretty unusual, said Bill Borghoff, an NWS meteorologist in the Twin Cities.

"The entire central and eastern part of the country is dealing with this," he said. Within 24 hours, parts of the Texas Panhandle and Missouri dropped by 50 degrees.

Locally, premature winter means lakes are freezing over already, he said, which is rare this time of year.

That typically happens in late November or early December.

Ice is still not thick enough to walk on in the Twin Cities. Four inches of ice is required for that to happen, according to the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources.

A return to normal

The good news is low temperatures aren't expected to last and temps will return to normal next week, Borghoff said.

The Twin Cities should rebound to about 20 for a high Tuesday, and near freezing on Wednesday and Thursday, before topping that magical 32-degree mark on Friday.

The best chance of snow, the NWS says, will be Wednesday, but no true accumulation is anticipated.

For Krause, the fluctuations are all relative.

"It will seem silly to be happy to be back to 44 [degrees] because we think of that being rather chilly," he said. "Now that it's been cold we're going to be thinking '44 degrees — that's great.' "

Kim Hyatt • 612-673-4751

Raymond Hoisington, 9, bowled a stone across a small frozen pond at the Bell Museum where he was with his family to watch the transit of Mercury across the sun on Monday, Nov. 11. (Star Tribune/The Minnesota Star Tribune)

An icy spray began to coat the sides Minnehaha Falls with snow and ice on Monday, Nov. 11, due to the low temperatures. (Star Tribune/The Minnesota Star Tribune)

Erin Armijo He used one of the Bell Museum's telescopes to watch Mercury's transit across the sun on Monday, Nov. 11. She was holding daughter Birdie, 2, after Anderson,4, had his turn. (Star Tribune/The Minnesota Star Tribune)