Bundle up, Minnesota. The longest cold snap in nearly six years is on the way, and the mercury might not rise above zero from Saturday night until Tuesday afternoon. An arctic air mass that originated in Siberia will send temperatures tumbling from the balmy 30s Friday morning to well below zero for the weekend,
According to the European model, there's a chance that the air temperature at MSP could hit -20°F for the first time since 2019.
Blizzard warning: Kittson County, the northwestern-most county in Minnesota, is under a blizzard warning until 9 p.m. Friday. There's not a lot of snow falling, but winds are gusting up to 60 mph and causing dangerous travel conditions.
"The warmth peaks Thursday and Friday before we go back into the deep freeze this weekend," the National Weather Service says — and Minnesota will be in the bullseye of the coldest temps and wind chills in the nation.
An extreme cold watch is issued when there is a possibility of the air temp or wind chill dropping to -35 or -40. To meet the threshold of an extreme cold warning, there has to be a likelihood that the air temp or wind chill will reach -35 in the Twin Cities, or -40 in northern Minnesota.
The National Weather Service has declared that dozens of counties in the region – at least two thirds of North Dakota and approximately the entire northern half of Minnesota – will be in an extreme cold warning from 6 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 18, through noon Tuesday, Jan. 21.
Additionally, a winter weather advisory is set for dozens of counties in eastern North Dakota and northern Minnesota.
The National Weather Service forcasted wind chills as low as -24 degrees on Saturday and even lower for Saturday night in Willmar. The frigid was forecasted to last through Tuesday.
A clipper system is set to bring several inches of snow to Minnesota at the weekend. The latest forecast from the National Weather Service is showing potential snow ranging from trace amounts in the southwest of the state to up to 6 inches in the Grand Marais area of the North Shore.
The NWS has issued warnings this weekend after a powerful polar vortex plunged temperatures nationwide during the week.
The National Weather Service says through Tuesday, widespread winds will produce dangerous wind chills as low negative 35 to negative 45 degrees