Multiple Snow Chances In The Next Week, Including Saturday Evening

Forecast loop from 6 PM Friday to 6 AM Sunday.

We continue to watch a system that is impacting parts of the state with snowfall. Most of the snow through Friday Night will be across northern and western Minnesota. The band across western Minnesota will slowly work eastward on Saturday, bringing the potential of snow into the metro toward the late afternoon and evening hours, likely pushing out by sunrise Sunday.

The heaviest overall snow with this system will be across northern Minnesota, where a band of 2-5" of snow will be possible. Up to 7" will be possible at the higher elevations of the North Shore in the Sawtooth Mountains. Down toward the metro, totals up to 1" will be possible, with the higher totals expected in the northern/northeastern metro.

A mainly cloudy day is expected Saturday with some snow chances starting to work into the metro in the late afternoon or early evening hours. Highs climb to the mid-30s after starting in the upper 20s.

Snow will continue to impact northern Minnesota on Saturday, with that band farther south working eastward throughout the day. Otherwise, cloudy skies are expected. Highs climb into the 20s and 30s.

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As we head toward the second half of the weekend, we'll clear the snow out of the region early in the morning hours, but the cloud cover will stick around. Highs will be slightly cooler behind that system in the mid/upper 20s.

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Forecast loop between Midnight Sunday Night and Noon Tuesday.

As a major system passes to our south early next week, southern Minnesota looks to get clipped by the far northwestern edge of the system. Because of those circumstances, we could see some light snow with maybe a couple of inches of accumulation across southern Minnesota up to the metro. However, the heaviest snow is expected to the south of the state and over toward Chicago/Milwaukee.

Forecast loop between 6 PM Tuesday and 6 PM next Friday.

After that early week system passes mostly to our south, we could see a few more snow chances through the end of the week - and models show additional chances toward the middle of the month. It's way too early for exact details - models are having a hard time grasping onto these systems this far out - but it is most certainly a sign of a more active pattern on the way with snow chances for outdoor winter activities.

Behind our systems next week, colder air will move out of Canada into the Upper Midwest, leading to highs in the teens (and potentially single digits) late next week into the beginning of the third week of January. The coldest low the metro has seen so far this winter was 8F back on November 28th. The coldest high was the day before - November 27th - at 21F.

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Snowy And Bitter Weather By Mid-January
By Paul Douglas

Here in the Land of 10,000 Weather Hazards it's usually all or nothing. Flood or drought? Swamp- like muggy or lip-chapping dry? Green lawns during an October-like December or a punch of the Polar Vortex in January? Our quiet, ho-hum, yawn-out-loud pattern is about to flip. An inevitable shot of much colder, snowier weather.

High confidence: Polar Vortex cold arrives by the third week of January with daytime highs from 0 to 10F and lows dipping to -10F. Moderate confidence: we will pick up a coating of slush tonight with 2-3" from Duluth to Bemidji. Low confidence: a conga-line of snowstorms will impact Minnesota by mid-January, each storm pulling progressively colder air southward. I see a few plowable snowfalls, possibly blizzard conditions west of MSP. Here we go.

A coating of slush is likely tonight, maybe an inch Monday night. The northwestern half of Minnesota could experience heavier snow and dangerous wind chills (-20 to -30F?) the weekend of January 13-14.

Winter is very late, but it's coming.

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Paul's Extended Twin Cities Forecast

SATURDAY: Flurries. Coating tonight. Wake up 28. High 34. Chance of precipitation 70%. Wind S 8-13 mph.

SUNDAY: Mostly cloudy and dry. Wake up 23. High 29. Chance of precipitation 10%. Wind NW 8-13 mph.

MONDAY: Brushed by slush. Maybe an inch late? Wake up 22. High 33. Chance of precipitation 70%. Wind NE 10-15 mph.

TUESDAY: Cloudy and dry. Wake up 27. High 31. Chance of precipitation 20%. Wind N 8-13 mph.

WEDNESDAY: A little light snow. Wake up 24. High 29. Chance of precipitation 60%. Wind W 8-13 mph.

THURSDAY: Flurries taper, cold wind kicks in. Wake up 17. High 22. Chance of precipitation 50%. Wind NW 15-25 mph.

FRIDAY: Mostly cloudy, wind chill near 0F. Wake up 7. High 18. Chance of precipitation 30%. Wind N 10-25 mph.

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Minneapolis Weather Almanac And Sun Data
January 6th

*Length Of Day: 8 hours, 55 minutes, and 50 seconds
*Daylight GAINED Since Yesterday: 1 minute and 10 seconds

*When Do We Climb Above 9 Hours Of Daylight? January 10th (9 hours, 1 minutes, 15 seconds)
*When Are Sunrises At/Below 7:30 AM? February 3rd (7:30 AM)
*When Are Sunsets At/After 5 PM? January 18th (5:01 PM)
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This Day in Weather History
January 6th

1942: The temperature rises from 32 below zero to 41 above in 24 hours in Pipestone.

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An impactful system will be moving from the Southeast toward the Mid-Atlantic on Saturday, with widespread rain, ice, and snow potential. Some storms across Florida could be severe. Meanwhile, we'll track a system in the western United States with rain and snow, and a system in the Upper Midwest with snowfall potential.

We'll be tracking numerous areas of snowfall through the weekend - a map that looks a lot more active than we've seen recently! Several feet of snow could impact some of the mountains out west, including the Cascades and Sierra. Meanwhile, up to around a foot of snow will be possible in parts of the interior Northeast. Rainfall-wise, at least 1-2" could impact parts of the Gulf Coast and into coastal areas of the Northeast that don't see snowfall.

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Minnesota mental health professionals say climate concerns driving patients to depression

More from Minnesota Reformer: "More than half of Minnesota's mental health professionals report seeing anxiety, depression and chronic psychological distress related to climate concerns among their patients, according to a study by researchers at the University of Minnesota. Most concerning, more than one-fifth of the surveyed mental health professionals reported "sometimes" or "often" observing signs of suicidal ideation or attempts linked to climate anxiety. "I work mainly with adolescents — who often express a sense of hopelessness about their future due to the overwhelming and seemingly 'unfixable' climate crisis," one professional said. The 2022 survey was conducted among 517 active and licensed mental health professionals in the state, including social workers, family counselors, psychologists and other therapists. The sample, while not representative of every mental health professional in the state, included a mix of respondents who worked with children and adults, in inpatient and outpatient settings, and in rural, suburban, urban and tribal areas."

St. Paul, Minnesota sees city buildings as opportunity for quick wins on climate plan goals

More from Energy News Network: "After a renovation project next year, the primates at St. Paul's Como Park Zoo will reside in one of the first net-zero city-owned buildings. Retrofitting several buildings at the zoo and the adjacent St. Paul Conservatory is part of a decarbonization initiative by the city to reach carbon neutrality for civic buildings by 2030. That goal is one of many in St. Paul's 2019 climate action and resilience plan, which outlines strategies and goals for carbon reduction in private and city-owned buildings and transportation, combined with the promotion of green infrastructure, water conservation and improved waste management."

Germany Reports Lowest Emissions In 70 Years But That's Not The End Of The Story

More from CleanTechnica: "Last year, greenhouse gas emissions in Germany fell to 673 million tons of carbon dioxide equivalent, according to Agora Energiewende. That is down 46 percent compared to the reference year of 1990 and the lowest level since the 1950s. At the same time, carbon emissions were about 49 million tons below the German national target of 722 million tons as specified by Germany's Climate Protection Act and 73 million tons lower than the prior year. [Note: carbon dioxide equivalent includes methane and nitrous oxide emissions.] Two main developments were responsible for the decrease. First, coal fired power generation fell to its lowest level since the 1960s, saving 44 million tons of carbon dioxide alone. The reasons for this were a significant drop in electricity demand, increased electricity imports from neighboring countries — around half of which came from renewable sources of energy — as well as a decrease in electricity exports, and a slight increase in domestic renewable electricity generation. Second, emissions from industry fell significantly, largely due to a decline in production by energy intensive companies like steel making as a result of the economic situation and international crises. While overall economic output shrank by 0.3 percent according to preliminary figures, energy intensive production fell by 11 percent in 2023."

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- D.J. Kayser