Douglas: Winter stages a bitter comeback next week

We’ve enjoyed a long and luxurious weather honeymoon, another supersized autumn across Minnesota. When it stays too nice for too long I start to get nervous. Winter arrives next week on bitter winds with a significant risk of accumulating snow one week from today. It’s too far out for specifics, but this weekend I’d seriously consider driveway stakes and digging out heavy coats and boots. It’s time.

Stale clouds linger much of Thursday with upper 40s. We stand a better chance of spying the sun Friday and again over the weekend. Soak up the 50s Friday into Monday because daytime highs may be stuck in the 20s from late next week into Thanksgiving. After one of the mildest autumns on record it may feel like a cold slap across the face. Like flipping a switch.

The best chance of accumulating snow next Wednesday and Thursday may come over western and southwestern Minnesota, deeper into the cold air. Precipitation will start as rain and then change over to snow by next Thursday in the metro. Time to crank up the Doppler again. Here we go.