Mild End to January

Todd's SCTIMES Outlook for St. Cloud and all of Central Minnesota:

MONDAY: Lingering flurries possible early, then partly sunny and much warmer by afternoon. High: 35. Winds: SSW 5-10mph


MONDAY NIGHT: Mild overnight temperatures, quiet. Low: 24. Winds: WSW 5mph


TUESDAY: Last day of January. Mild with a little light rain and snow possible later. High: 38. Winds: W 10-20mph

WEDNESDAY: AM flurry or two. More PM sun, happy February. Daylight has increased 1 hour since the shortest days of the year in late December. Low: 20. High: 34. Winds: WSW 5-10mph

THURSDAY: Groundhog Day! Clouds thicken, a few flurries late. Low: 18. High: 33

FRIDAY: Cloudy with scattered flurries. Low: 20. High: 30

SATURDAY:  Sunny first Saturday of February. Low: 17. High: 30

SUNDAY: High pressure keeps weather quiet. Low: 18. High: 32

Sunday Satellite

 The satellite image below is from Sunday. With somewhat clear skies across much of the area, you can see the somewhat wintry landscape. I've highlighted some of the bigger cities in red and outlined the frozen lakes in yellow. Can you name the lakes? The darker bodies of water are Lake Superior and Lake Michigan that are still mostly ice free.Also note that there is a pretty sharp snow line across Iowa, the northern part of the state has a little on the ground, but the southern half is snow free.

     Not only do we turn the page to a new calendar month this week, but we also are up one hour of daylight since the shortest days of the year in late December. Not sure I can say the worst of winter's snow and cold is behind us, but we sure are making strides towards those warmer days.
     For those of you who are interested in the long range winter forecast, don't forget to tune in on Thursday for a big announcement from on the most popular and well known rodents across the globe. Punxsutawney Phill will have a prediction at 7:20AM EST from Gobler's Knob and decide whether or not to take another 6 week nap. The forecast for Punxsutawney, PA calls for cloudier skies early Thursday and as legend has it, if he doesn't see his shadow, it'll be an early spring.
     Regardless of what Phil says on Thursday, it's going to feel more like March as temperatures bump up close to 40 degrees today and tomorrow. With temperatures as warm as they'll be, I see no problem with us getting into a top 10 spot for one of the warmest January's in recorded history. March-uary comes to an end on Tuesday with the potential for a little light rain/snow mix, how fitting.

From The St. Paul Winter Carnival

Thanks to Aaron Shaffer for the picture below, who ended up hanging out in St. Paul for a time to check out the sights and sounds and the Winter Carnival. Thanks for the picture Aaron!

Alaska's Crazy Cold

US National Weather Service Alaska

"Sunday was the first day in 6 years that Fairbanks International Airport reached -50F. The last occurrence was on January 27 2006, when Fairbanks reached -51F.

Some of the coldest temperatures seen in Interior Alaska this winter occurred late this morning as a very cold air mass continues to linger over the region. Here are some temperatures reported as of noon Saturday. Please see our Public Information Statement at  

https://nwschat.weather.gov/p.php?pid=201201282156-PAFG-NOAK49-PNSAFG"

Cold, But Hardly the Coldest

Temperatures on Saturday morning dipped into the 60s below zero across parts of interior Alaska. Yea, that's cold, but what would another 20 degrees colder feel like?

See the full story HERE about the coldest temperature ever recorded in North America 

"Wilfred "Wilf" Blezard remembers the coldest recorded day in North America's history. Now 82 years old, Blezard was one of four weathermen stationed at the Snag airport in Yukon, Canada, on February 3, 1947. On that day, the temperature dropped to 81 degrees below zero Fahrenheit."

Major Temperature Swing

Take a look at the major temperature swing from Alaska to California! The information below was written up by WeatherNation Meteorologist Bryan Karrick on the WeatherNation Facebook page, check it out HERE:

"Parts of Alaska have dipped into the 60s below zero this weekend, while residents in southern California have been basking in record breaking heat. Check out this CRAZY extreme from yesterday! Ft. Yukon, Alaska dropped to a low of 63-below zero. Fullerton, California shattered their old record of 75 set in 2009, with a very warm 83. You're looking at a difference of 146 degrees! -Meteorologist Bryan Karrick" 

Groundhog Day on Thursday

Punxsutawney, PA will be crawling with people this week for the 126th Annual Groundhog Day festival. Arguably, the world's most well known rodent will be in the spotlight on Thursday morning as he arrives from his heated den at Gobbler's Knob. The forecast calls for cloudier skies AM Thursday, so there is a better chance he doesn't see his shadow, which would mean an early spring!

Check out the full list of events HERE: 

 

Warm End to January

It certainly has been a mild month so far, in fact temperatures are running nearly 7 degrees above average, which is good enough to get in the top 10 warmest January's on record. The last couple of days of January will feel more like March! The image below shows the temperature trend through the week. The peaks are high temperatures running up close to 40F (orange line) a couple times and staying well above average (blue line) through the first few days of February.

Thanks for checking in and have a great week ahead!

Don't forget to check me out on Twitter: @TNelsonWNTV 

 -Meteorologist Todd Nelson-