The National Weather Service has issued a Winter Storm Watch from Wednesday Night into Thursday for another plowable snow event that will mainly impact southern Minnesota into Wisconsin.

WINTER STORM WATCH IN EFFECT FROM WEDNESDAY EVENING THROUGH THURSDAY AFTERNOON

WHAT...Heavy snow possible. Total snow accumulations of 5 to 8 inches possible.

WHERE... Southern Minnesota

WHEN...From Wednesday evening through Thursday afternoon.

IMPACTS...Plan on slippery road conditions. The hazardous conditions could impact the Thursday morning commute.

The heaviest snow will fall across southern Minnesota with some 4" to 8" of snow possible across far southern and southeastern MN. At this point, the Twin Cities could see some 3" to 6" possible across the metro.

Active weather continues this week with another storm system moving through the Midwest PM Wednesday into Thursday. The heaviest snow looks to fall south of the Twin Cities, but there could certain be some plowable amounts close to home. Stay tuned...

Here's NOAA's NBM snowfall potential, which shows a fairly decent swath of snow stretching from Nebraska into southern Minnesota and Central Wisconsin. Again, there will be some plowable amounts closer to home with the best potential across southern Minnesota.

As of Monday, January 16th, the MSP Airport recorded 11" of snow on the ground. Interestingly, this tied for the 12th greatest snow depth on record for January 16th!

Through January 16th, the MSP Airport has recorded 1.89" of liquid so far this month, which is already the 8th wettest January on record. With our next system moving through the region PM Wednesday into Thursday, we could get to the 7th wettest spot. We'll see how the rest of the month turns out, but it might be tough to get into the top 5. Stay tuned...

Here's how much snow has fallen across the region so far this month. More than a foot of snow has fallen from Sioux Falls, to the Twin Cities and St. Cloud, which is nearly +10.0" above average! The MSP Airport has seen nearly 16" of snow this month, which is the 5th snowiest start to any January on record (through January 16th).

Taking a look at snowfall since July 1st, many locations have seen above average amounts so far this season, but folks from near Sioux Falls to the Twin Cities and towards Duluth are nearly 20" to 30" above average through January 16th 49.0" of snow has fallen at the MSP Airport, which is the 4th snowiest start to any season on record.

The weather outlook for the Twin Cities on Wednesday, January 18th shows mild weather in place for Mid January with a high temp in the low/mid 30s. Skies will remain mostly cloudy with snow developing late in the day.

Temps across the region on Wednesday will warm into the 20s and 30s across much of the region, which will be nearly +5F to +10F above average. Skies will be cloudy for much of the day with areas of snow moving in from the southwest late in the day.

The weather outlook through the day Wednesday shows mild temperatures starting in the mid/upper 20s in the morning with highs topping out around the freezing mark in the afternoon. 10mph to 15mph northeasterly winds will be a little stronger in the afternoon in the advance of a storm system that will bring snow late in the day Wednesday.

Feels like temps on Wednesday will generally be in the mid 20s through the day.

Weather conditions will remain active across the US with areas of low pressure developing and intensifying east of the Rockies. Areas of plowable snow will be possible on the northern edge of these storms with strong to severe storms and locally heavy rainfall on the southern edge of the storms.

The extended temperature outlook for Minneapolis over the next 5 days shows milder weather in place with highs warming into the 30s through midweek. Temperatures will gradually cool into the 20s late week/weekend ahead with readings trending a little closer to average for the middle/end of January.

Shovelable/plowable moves through late Wednesday into Thursday with quieter and cooler weather in place Friday and into the weekend. As we approach next week, temperatures may cool to at or below average levels for a change.

The NBM extended temperature outlook for Minneapolis over the next several days shows fairly mild weather in place through the mid week before cooler temps start filtering in through the 2nd half of next week. As we approach the last full week of January, temperatures will gradually cool to near normal levels and possibly even below average for late January.

The 850mb temperature anomaly through next weekend shows at or above average temperatures continuing across much of the Eastern US. Colder than average temperatures will be in place across the Western US, where continued Pacific precipitation chances will be in place.

According to NOAA's Climate Prediction Center, the 8 to 14 day temperature outlook shows cooler than average temperatures across much of the western half of the nation. Meanwhile, folks in the Southeastern US and Alaska will be above average.

According to NOAA's Climate Prediction Center, the 8 to 14 Day precipitation outlook shows more active weather in place across the eastern two-thirds of the nation and especially across the Gulf Coast States.

Personal question: do you or your loved ones suffer from "Metro-it is"? Symptom: if it didn't happen in the metro it didn't happen. I run into this as a meteorologist struggling to predict weather for a wide swath of central and southern Minnesota and western Wisconsin. Yes, 55% of Minnesota residents live in the 7-county Twin Cities metro. The 7-Day you see on TV, radio and print is biased for MSP, where the most Minnesotans live. BUT, there can be wild variations in weather elsewhere. We break this down online at Startribune.com with maps and details for Minnesota.

A storm tracking from Denver to Chicago pushes snow into town tonight. Heaviest snow falls over southeastern Minnesota & Wisconsin, but models still suggest plowable amounts - possibly something in the 3-6" range for the metro area. Sorry. Force of habit.

St. Cloud may pick up 3" with 8" possible in Winona! Our crusty snow needs a refresh.

Colder weather is likely here by late January but models are flip-flopping on chilly vs. bitter.

WEDNESDAY: Cloudy, snow at night. Winds: NE 10-15. High: 31.

WEDNESDAY NIGHT: Snow likely. Winds: NW 5. Low: 26.

THURSDAY: Plowable snow, 3-6" possible. Winds: NE 10-15. High: 29.

FRIDAY: Clouds linger, better travel. Winds: NW 8-13. Wake-up: 20. High: 24.

SATURDAY: Mix of clouds and sunshine. Winds: SW 8-13. Wake-up: 17. High: 28.

SUNDAY: Glimmers of sun, not bad. Winds: SW 8-13. Wake-up: 20. High: 30.

MONDAY: Light snow or flurries. Winds: NW 8-13. Wake-up: 25. High: 28.

TUESDAY: Flurries taper. Winds: NW 5-10. Wake-up: 21. High: 26.

January 18th

1996: A blizzard begins across the upper midwest. The Twin Cities Airport was spared the heavy snow, but received nearly one inch of rain. Heavy ice coating in the northwest metro area caused thousands of power outages. Wind chills were as low as -88 (on the old windchill scale) at Crookston. Snow totals were 18 inches at Ely and 12 inches at St. Cloud. Mail delivery was stopped for the day in Duluth and I-94 was closed all day from Rothsay and Moorhead. Flooding problems were caused in the Twin Cities due to backed up water.

1994: Governor Arne Carlson orders all Minnesota public schools closed due to the extreme cold and severe winter weather. Morning readings were in the 30-below-zero range. The biggest problem was from high winds that came with the cold.

January 18th

Average High: 23F (Record: 48F set in 1880)

Average Low: 8F (Record: -36F set in 1887)

Record Rainfall: 0.31" set in 1895

Record Snowfall: 4.5" set in 2014

January 18th

Sunrise: 7:45am

Sunset: 5:01pm

Hours of Daylight: ~9 hours & 16 minutes

Daylight GAINED since yesterday: +1 Minutes & 57 Seconds

Daylight GAINED since Winter Solstice (December 21st): ~ 29 minutes

2.6 Days Before New Moon

Temperatures across the nation on Wednesday will be well above average across the Eastern half of the nation with temps running nearly +10F to +20F above average in spots. Some communities across the Lower Mississippi Valley could reach record levels, where highs will reach the 70s and 80s. Temps in the Western US will cool to below average levels with areas of heavy snow along the Front Range of the Rockies.

The weather outlook for Wednesday shows active weather in place across the Central US as a large area of low pressure moves through. Heavy snow will be possible from the Front Range of the Rockies to the Upper Midwest, while strong to severe thunderstorms will be possible across the Southern US with locally heavy rainfall.

An area of low pressure will move through The Central US through midweek with plowable snow through the Midwest. Meanwhile, strong to severe thunderstorms will be possible in the Southern US with strong to severe thunderstorms and locally heavy rainfall.

According to NOAA's Weather Prediction Center, the extended precipitation outlook shows pockets of heavy rainfall along and east of the Mississippi River Valley and across the Gulf Coast States. There will be another swath of heavier precipitation from the Central Plains to the Great Lakes, which will likely fall in the form of plowable snow. Continued heavy precipitation will be found in the Western US.

According to the ECMWF (European model), heavy snow will be found across much of the high elevations in the Western US. There will also be decent snowfall potential in the across parts of the Central US into the Great Lakes Region.

"Scientists in France have created a way to divert lightning strikes using a weather-controlling super laser. Researchers with the Polytechnic Institute of Paris guided the strikes from thunderclouds to places where they don't cause damage. The team says the new technique could save power stations, airports, launchpads, and other buildings from disaster. The system creates a virtual lightning rod, metal conductors that intercept flashes and guide their currents into the ground. "The findings extend the current understanding of laser physics in the atmosphere and may aid in the development of novel lightning protection strategies," says corresponding author Dr. Aurelien Houard, according to a statement from SWNS.The five-ton device is about the size of a large car and fires up to a thousand pulses per second. The scientists installed it near a telecommunications tower in the Swiss Alps – which is struck by lightning around 100 times a year."

See more from Study Finds HERE:

"Early modelling suggests the world's climate could shift to an El Niño pattern towards the end of 2023, which is likely to increase the global average temperature A global shift to an El Niño climate pattern later this year could pave the way for the world to breach 1.5°C of warming for the first time in 2024, according to the UK Met Office.New modelling from the agency suggests the current three-year La Niña phase will end in March and this looks likely to be followed by an El Niño pattern later this year."

See more from New Scientist HERE:

"California has seen so much rain over the past few weeks that farm fields are inundated and normally dry creeks and drainage ditches have become torrents of water racing toward the ocean. Yet, most of the state remains in drought. All that runoff in the middle of a drought begs the question — why can't more rainwater be collected and stored for the long, dry spring and summer when it's needed? As a hydrogeologist at the University of California at Santa Cruz, I'm interested in what can be done to collect runoff from storms like this on a large scale. There are two primary sources of large-scale water storage that could help make a dent in the drought: holding that water behind dams and putting it in the ground."

See more from The Conversation HERE: