Very cold tonight, wind chill advisory in effect; some snow possible Wednesday night-Thursday (highest amounts north of Duluth)

-Wind Chill Advisory (light blue area on map) in effect from 9 PM this evening to 10 AM Wednesday for northern and northeast Minnesota including the cities of International Falls, Bigfork, Grand Rapids, Walker, Brainerd, Aitkin, Moose Lake, Cloquet, Duluth, Hibbing, Ely, Two Harbors, Silver Bay and Grand Marais.

-Wind chills as low as 30 below zero.

-The cold wind chills could cause frostbite on exposed skin in as little as 30 minutes.

Source https://www.weather.gov/dlh/

-Winter Storm Watch in effect Wednesday evening through Thursday afternoon for the North Shore including the cities of Two Harbors, Isabella, Finland, Silver Bay and Grand Marais.

-Accumulating snow is expected Wednesday night into Thursday. The hazardous conditions could impact the Thursday morning and evening commutes.

Here’s my snowfall forecast for Wednesday night and Thursday.

Still looks like portions of the North Shore will see the highest amounts of snow with this system ranging from 3 to 6 inches.

An inch or less of snow is expected in Duluth and Superior.

Only 0.5% of Lake Superior is covered by ice as of January 7th, 2020 – this is below average for early January.

Source https://www.glerl.noaa.gov/

Red line on graph below represents 2020 ice coverage while the blue line represents average ice coverage from 1973 to 2019.

Source https://coastwatch.glerl.noaa.gov/

Low temperature forecast for Wednesday morning, January 8, 2020. Source https://graphical.weather.gov/

High temperature forecast for Wednesday, January 8.

…Weather Summary…

Frigid tonight as arctic air makes a rare visit to the Northland this winter. Note: The last time Duluth had a subzero temperature was on December 18th (low of -15 degrees)

Lows tonight will be in the single digits, teens and 20s below zero with clear to partly cloudy skies. Winds will be out of the northwest at 5 to 15 mph with gusts to 25 mph.

Cold on Wednesday with highs in the single digits to lower teens. Mostly sunny to partly cloudy skies in the morning with increasing cloudiness during the afternoon.

Arctic high pressure moves off to the east by late Wednesday with southerly winds and warm air advection returning to the area ahead of an area of low pressure which approaches from the west. This system should bring some snow to most of the Northland Wednesday evening into Thursday with most of the snow confined to the North Shore and far northern Minnesota with only a brief period or two of snow expected farther south including in Duluth.

Forecast for Duluth and Superior

*Wind Chill Advisory for Duluth from 9 PM this evening to 10 AM Wednesday*

.Tonight… Frigid. Blustery. Mostly clear. Low 8 below to 14 below. Wind northwest 10 to 20 mph with gusts to 25 mph. Wind chills as low as 30 below.

.Wednesday… Cold. Mostly sunny with increasing cloudiness later in the day. High 7 to 11. Wind variable becoming southeast 5 to 15 mph. Morning wind chills as low as 30 below.

.Wednesday night… Light snow possible. Mostly cloudy. Snowfall accumulations of an inch or less. Temperatures rising into the teens. Wind east to southeast 10 to 20 mph.

.Thursday… Mostly cloudy. Some light snow or flurries possible. Accumulations less than an inch. High 23 to 28. Wind east to southeast 10 to 20 mph becoming southwest late.

Thanks for reading!

Tim