By Mark Anthony Anderson, Meteorologist
It’s hard to believe that the Christmas season has come and gone. There is always so much preparation to make it a fun day, but just like that it seems to be behind us.
This Christmas season was interesting as most of us were waiting to see if we would have a white Christmas where snow has been lacking. Most of central and west central Minnesota have an historical chance for a white Christmas of 70 to 80 percent. Northern Minnesota’s odds are from 85 percent to 100 percent. Across southwestern Minnesota, the odds of a white Christmas fall to as low as 60 to 65 percent.
With this year being an El Niño year, we tend to see more of the storm systems tracking to the south. We have seen this so far this year with the Central Plains and the Deep South seeing more active weather. Some of these storms have clipped southern Minnesota and left other parts of Minnesota with little moisture.
We are keeping an eye on a system that is set to come out of the Colorado/Oklahoma panhandle that could bring some snow to the area and move into southern Wisconsin by Thursday morning. The path of this tends to show that a good share of Minnesota could see some snow by Wednesday night into early Thursday.
Colder and drier weather is expected to settle-in for the final weekend in 2018. We should see high temperatures falling into the low- to mid-teens by the weekend.
Have a great rest of year!
Weather history: On this date in 1990 some bitterly cold air settled in across the state of Minnesota. Cambridge dropped to 31 below zero for the coldest reading. Meanwhile, St. Cloud hit 29 below and Melrose reported 28 below!
Weather fact: Did you know that while the winter solstice is the “shortest day of the year, seasonal lag means that the coldest period usually follows the solstice by a few weeks?”
Almanac:
Sunrise: 8:02 a.m.
Sunset: 4:42 p.m.
Normal High: 20
Normal Low: 3
MN AT A GLANCE:
Moorhead Low 12 High 25
Duluth Low 13 High 25
Central Minn. Low 15 High 27
Twin Cities Low 19 High 31
Rochester Low 22 High 33
Marshall Low 17 High 31
Wednesday: Mostly cloudy, 30-percent chance of snow. High 27 Low 21 Wind: E 15-25 mph Prec. Trace-.20”
Parts of the area could see some snow for the midweek into Thursday. Temperatures will cool-down by Friday and into the weekend as high pressure moves into the region. A northwesterly flow will usher in some colder air by Friday and into the weekend. Highs will only reach the teens for the final weekend in 2018.
Thursday: Mostly cloudy to cloudy, 50-percent chance of snow. High 27 Low 8 Winds: NNE 10-20 mph Prec. .10”-.40
Friday: Mostly cloudy, 20-percent chance of lingering light snow. High 14 Low 1 Wind: NW 10-20 mph Prec. Trace-.20”
Saturday: Partly cloudy. High 14 Low 4 Wind: W 10-15 mph Prec. None
Sunday. Partly cloudy. High 15 Low 10 Wind: SSW 5-15 mph Prec. None