A much colder pattern has returned after getting a break from the Arctic air earlier in the month.
It’s already pretty cold out there, and the next few days will be downright frigid. But later in the week, we could be in for even colder temperatures—possibly some of the chilliest air we’ve felt in years.
Temperatures at 850mb, or roughly 5,000 feet above the ground, could drop to between -33°C and -39°C in northeast Minnesota and northwest Wisconsin later this week. That’s pretty remarkable and suggests we might be in for some truly bone-chilling cold.
Thursday and Friday nights are expected to see temperatures plunge into the 20s and 30s below zero in the Northland, with a chance of hitting -40 in northern Minnesota. Daytime highs next Friday might only make it to the teens or close to 20 below zero based on the current outlook.
Watch as a piece of the polar vortex (upper low) strengthens, moving south-southeast from eastern Manitoba and western Ontario on Wednesday, then passing near Lake Superior on Thursday.
European model 500mb forecast valid 6 AM Wednesday to 6 PM Thursday.
Duluth Airport dropped to -10 degrees this morning, making it the coldest temperature recorded so far this month. The previous coldest was -5 on January 2.
The -10 temperature in Duluth on January 18th was the coldest since December 14th, when it dropped to -16.
So far this month, Duluth has had 6 days with subzero low temperatures. Typically, January sees about 15 days with subzero lows.
Note: Some of the coldest temperatures recorded in the Northland this morning were -24 at Ash Lake, MN, -20 at Cook, MN, -18 at Crane Lake, and -17 at Cotton.
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