Weather Column: An Alberta Clipper slid across parts of Minnesota Thursday night into Friday (Dec. 31) that brought some light snow to the region. Most of the light snow stayed across the northern half of the state.
We started off the last Saturday of 2016 on a dry and fairly mild note as temperatures climbed into the low to mid 20s across the area.
This was 5 to 10 degrees above average.
For New Year?Äôs Day on Sunday, temperatures warmed up even further as we climbed into the mid- to upper-20s and even the 30s across parts of Minnesota. This mild air was associated with a warm front and a southerly flow that brought in the mild air and the moisture out ahead of our next weather disturbance.
An area of low pressure moved out of the Colorado Rockies and brought some additional snow and a wintry mix to the Upper Midwest for Monday and Tuesday. This did make for travel concerns for some traveling in the New Year.
On the backside of this system, we will get another blast of cold Arctic air for Wednesday and into the first full weekend of 2017. Dangerous wind chill values are also expected through Saturday.
We could see a little shot of light snow by Sunday.
Stay warm and happy New Year!
Weather history: On this date in 1981 NWS records show that it was so cold that the air was ?Äúcold enough to freeze a mercury thermometer poured into Minnesota.?Äù For example, Tower hit -45 F.
Weather fact: Early thermometers used water, but because water freezes there was no way to measure temperatures less than the freezing point of water. So, alcohol, which freezes at ?Äútemperature below the point were used.?Äù If the thermometer gets too cold (-38 F), the mercury will freeze.
MN AT A GLANCE:
Moorhead Low -8 High 0
Duluth Low -3 High 4
Central Minn. Low -3 High 1
Minneapolis Low 2 High 11
Rochester Low 3 High 10
Marshall Low -1 High 8
Wednesday: Partly cloudy and cold. High 1 Low -12 Winds: NWN 10-20 mph Prec. None
Monday?Äôs sunrise: 8:02 a.m.
Monday?Äôs sunset: 4:50 p.m.
Normal High: 14
Normal Low: -2
It is going to be a cold start to the New Year as temperatures will be bitterly cold for the midweek and into the first full weekend of 2017. Little snow is on the horizon through the weekend as we tap cold and dry Arctic air.
Thursday: Mostly cloudy to cloudy. High -3 Low -12 Winds: WNW 10-15 mph Prec. None
Friday: Mostly cloudy. High 4 Low -9 Winds: W 10-15 mph Prec. None
Saturday: Partly sunny. High 1 Low -7 Winds: WSW 10-15 mph Prec. None
Sunday: Partly to mostly cloudy, 20-percent chance of light snow mainly late. High 3 Low 0 Winds: WSW 10-20 mph Prec. Trace-.20?Äù