Cloudy Saturday - Record High Possible Christmas Eve With Rain Into Christmas Day

It's been a warm December so far in the Twin Cities. Through Thursday, we have observed 10 days with a high at or above 40F in the metro (as we fell just short on Thursday with a high of 39F). Those ten days are currently tied for the 18th most for the month. We did see highs in the 40s on Friday, which will have moved us into a tie for 13th. With 40s and 50s on Saturday and Sunday, we'll be in a tie for 7th by the end of Christmas Eve. After that, we'll see if we can muster 40F either Christmas Day or Boxing Day, with 40s likely done for the month after early next week.

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Despite the graphic above showing the chance of some sunshine on Saturday, I do think it will continue to be a gray and cloudy day in the metro with foggy conditions in the morning hours. Morning temperatures start around 40F with highs around 50F.

Saturday will be a cloudy, gray, and foggy day across the state - but at least that's the only weather impacting travel conditions. Highs range from around 40F in northern Minnesota to the low 50s in southwestern Minnesota.

While temperatures will fall quite short of the record high for Saturday in the Twin Cities, records will be possible in Rochester and Brainerd.

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Here's a look at highs vs. records across the state for Christmas Eve. The Twin Cities record high for the day is 46F in 1957, which could easily be broken. We could also see record highs in Rochester, St. Cloud, Brainerd, and Baudette.

As we look toward the rest of the holiday weekend:

Forecast loop between 6 PM Sunday and 6 PM Wednesday.

Here's a look at that system which will impact us from Christmas Eve into the early part of the week. The first round of precipitation should be rain for the metro and many areas of the state - with areas of northwestern Minnesota most likely to see some snow. There are questions as to what type of precipitation falls - and where the cutoff lines are - with the second part of the system from late Christmas Day through early Wednesday. This is one area where you'll want to stay tuned for early next week - but, again, most of the precipitation in the metro on Christmas Day should be rain. The question marks start coming in a touch after that.

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As we watch that large system continue to impact the Upper Midwest early next week, cooler air will continue to filter down from Canada into the region. Monday or Tuesday has the potential to be the last 40F-degree day of 2023, as I think there's still a chance we could make it to that value. Otherwise, 30s for highs are likely to end the year, and some models are hinting at a day or two stuck in the 20s.

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Santa Faced With A Christmas Soaking
By Paul Douglas

Anyone else storing excess food and beverages outside on the deck or patio? The squirrels may have a Christmas Feast. A majority of Minnesotans seem just fine with green lawns and rain, but I feel like the weather grinch who stole Christmas.

Here's how crazy things are: tonight's predicted metro low (46F) is the RECORD HIGH on Christmas Eve! Temperatures are running 20-35F warmer than average.

Expect highs near 50F today under a gray sky. More typical for Halloween. A surge of rain arrives tomorrow and by the time it tapers Tuesday some 1-2" rainfall amounts are possible, ending as slushy snow north and west of the Twin Cities. It's premature to lock in snowfall totals, but a couple inches may fall over central MN and the Brainerd Lakes, with plowable amounts across South Dakota. There's just too much mild air aloft for significant snow close to home anytime soon. Daytime highs droop into the 20s late next week; we will get a taste of December.

Brighter note: we've picked up 7 seconds of daylight!

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Paul's Extended Twin Cities Forecast

SATURDAY: Cloudy and mild. Wake up 40. High 50. Chance of precipitation 20%. Wind SE 10-15 mph.

SUNDAY: Record warmth. Heavier rain arrives. Wake up 46. High 53. Chance of precipitation 100%. Wind SE 10-20 mph.

MONDAY: Christmas puddles. More rain. Wake up 42. High 47. Chance of precipitation 100%. Wind NE 15-25 mph.

TUESDAY: Rain tapers. Nighttime slush up north. Wake up 38. High 42. Chance of precipitation 80%. Wind E 10-20 mph.

WEDNESDAY: Few flurries or sprinkles. Wet roads. Wake up 32. High 37. Chance of precipitation 60%. Wind NW 10-20 mph.

THURSDAY: Peeks of sun. Feels like December. Wake up 19. High 27. Chance of precipitation 20%. Wind N 10-20 mph.

FRIDAY: More sunshine, still chilly. Wake up 12. High 22. Chance of precipitation 10%. Wind NW 10-20 mph.

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Minneapolis Weather Almanac And Sun Data
December 23rd

*Length Of Day: 8 hours, 46 minutes, and 17 seconds
*Daylight GAINED Since Yesterday: 0 minutes and 5 seconds

*When Do We Climb Above 9 Hours Of Daylight? January 10th (9 hours, 1 minutes, 15 seconds)
*When Is The Latest Sunrise? December 30th-January 5th (7:51 AM)
*When Are Sunsets At/After 5 PM? January 18th (5:01 PM)
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This Day in Weather History
December 23rd

1996: Heavy snow accumulates across much of southern and central Minnesota. Snowfall totals included 6 to 8 inches across the Twin Cities metro area, 10 inches in Jordan, 8 inches at Cambridge, Forest Lake, Hutchinson and Montevideo, and 6 inches at St. Cloud, Glenwood and Redwood Falls.

1983: The Twin Cities experience a bitterly cold high of 17 degrees below zero.

1833: A 'warm spell' is reported at Ft. Snelling. The temperature reached 45 degrees.

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On the Saturday before Christmas, we will be tracking several lows in the Plains that will be slowly moving eastward, bringing the chance of rain and snow from the Rockies and Four Corners region into the central United States. An additional low moving across the Great Lakes brings some rain chances to the region in addition to snowflakes into the Northeast.

Through Sunday, the heaviest additional rainfall will be from the Desert Southwest to the Southern Plains, where 2-4" of rain will be possible.

The heaviest snow through Christmas Eve will be in the western mountains - particularly in the Rockies and Cascades.

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Biden admin's long-awaited hydrogen rules are here — and on the right track

More from Canary Media: "It's not often you get to write the rules to govern an entirely new industry. But that's exactly what the Biden administration is doing now with new proposed rules that define what kinds of hydrogen production methods count as clean. This morning, the Treasury Department proposed a framework that aligns with the best available evidence, protects consumers and the climate, and sets the right foundation for robust and durable growth of the U.S. clean hydrogen sector. At stake is who gets to claim the most generous subsidy for clean hydrogen production in the world — and whether that ​"clean" hydrogen is truly clean, or an exercise in greenwashing that could cost the American taxpayer hundreds of billions of dollars while increasing CO2 emissions by hundreds of millions of tons."

From sewage to sip: California adopts new water reuse rules

More from Axios: "California this week made large strides in recycling wastewater — yes, that's toilet water — into drinking water. The big picture: The move is meant to make the Golden State more resilient to hotter and drier conditions amid a climate crisis that has led to multiple droughts, severely depleting water resources even after a series of atmospheric rivers that hit California last season. Driving the news: The State Water Resources Control Board approved regulations Tuesday to allow the development of treatment protocols to convert wastewater into high-quality drinking water. The recycling process, known as direct potable reuse, enables water systems across the state to generate a climate-resilient water source while also reducing the amount of wastewater discharged to rivers and the ocean."

Your Money Is Funding Fossil Fuels Without You Knowing It

More from WIRED: "When you drop money in the bank, it looks like it's just sitting there, ready for you to withdraw. In reality, your institution makes money on your money by lending it elsewhere, including to the fossil fuel companies driving climate change, as well as emissions-heavy industries like manufacturing. So just by leaving money in a bank account, you're unwittingly contributing to worsening catastrophes around the world. According to a new analysis, for every $1,000 dollars the average American keeps in savings, each year they indirectly create emissions equivalent to flying from New York to Seattle. "We don't really take a look at how the banks are using the money we keep in our checking account on a daily basis, where that money is really circulating," says Jonathan Foley, executive director of Project Drawdown, which published the analysis. "But when we look under the hood, we see that there's a lot of fossil fuels.""

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Thanks for checking in and have a great day!

- D.J. Kayser