More Blowing Snow Possible But Much Warmer Temps On The Way!

Cold air has dominated the area the last couple of days. Air temperatures plunged between 25 and 35 below last night, and wind chills reached close to 50 below this morning. Thankfully we only have a couple more days of cold remaining before we experience some winter heat! A glimpse or tease of spring is right around the corner! Before that, we have a little bit of snow in the forecast and some windy conditions returning, which may lead to some blowing snow over the weekend.

For the rest of today, Thursday 2-3-2022, a wind chill advisory remains in effect through Friday morning. Clouds will increase this evening, with temperatures warming just above zero into early Friday morning. Wind will be increasing 10-20 mph from the southeast, turning to the north tonight with gusts up to 35mph. This may lead to a little patchy blowing snow or drifting snow across the roads for your Friday morning commute. Additionally, some snow flurries will be tracking across the northern and central Red River Valley into Lakes Country MN tonight into Friday morning. Very little to no accumulation is expected, just a light dusting.

Skies go primarily sunny again through Friday, but it will be breezy with northwest winds between 10-20 mph with gusts as high as 30 mph. Temperatures fall to near -5 by Friday afternoon as winds become lighter, with wind chills around -20. Overnight Friday temps drop to about -12. Another Alberta Clipper will track across the area, bringing snow showers into Saturday morning with windy conditions again.

Winds will increase into Saturday morning between 15-30 mph with gusts up to 40 mph from the south. Expect some blowing snow again Saturday morning and afternoon with scattered snow showers. South winds Saturday will warm us up into the 20's to low 30's, but temperatures fall again after a cold front swings through by the evening hours, turning wind out of the north northwest Saturday evening between 10-20 mph with gusts up to 35 mph. Not much snow is expected from this system, 0-1" in the southern valley, 1-3" in the northern valley, and 2-4 in far northwest Minnesota. Sunday, the weather looks pretty quiet. Partly cloudy, a slight breeze, and a little cold. Highs will be in the single digits with an overnight low close to -10. 

Next week will be much warmer than this past week! One could say a sample of spring! Temperatures will climb into the 20's and 30's for at least the first half of next week. There are even signs pointing at a day or two, where temperatures could reach close to 40! Now in the dead of winter, it is hard to push 40, but it's possible. Record temperatures next week are 51 on Monday, 51 on Tuesday, 42 on Wednesday, and 46 on Thursday. So it has been that warm before, but I'm not entirely sold on 40 for Tuesday and or Thursday next week yet. Regardless, with high temperatures in the 20's and 30's to start next week, it will feel pretty nice. Of course, it will come with some breezy conditions and a couple of chances for snow at the end of the week. But hey, even a windy 30 degree day beats a -10 degree day any day of the week in my book!

Have a great weekend, and let's look forward to some warmer temperatures on the way!

 

Meteorologist,

Justin Storm