AccuWeather issues winter forecast: What it says about Minnesota
"Periods of cold & snow." That's what the feature map in AccuWeather's 2021-22 winter prediction says for Minnesota. Bold forecast, eh? However, you might find some of the content deeper within the article a little more entertaining.
For starters, AccuWeather projects above normal snowfall for Minnesota, somewhere in the range of 25% to 49% more than usual. An average winter in the Twin Cities drops about 54 inches of snow, so if the AccuWeather forecast rings true it would mean somewhere between 67 and 81 inches of snow in the metro area this winter.
Weather is sponsored by All Energy Solar: get a free installation quote now!
“If you live in the northern Plains and Great Lakes, I think you really have to pay attention to the cold shots that come down," the AccuWeather expert quoted in the article says.
It notes that January temps could be 5-10 degrees colder than they were last winter.
So how cold was last January in the Twin Cities? It wasn't too bad. The average daytime high was 28 degrees and the average low was about 16 degrees. Chop off 5-10 degrees and it would certainly be a rather cold January.
February was Minnesota's stupid-cold month last winter, averaging just 18 degrees for the daily high and an average of low of 4.6 degrees, which was influenced by a brutal stretch of 12 straight days with subzero lows.
All in all, AccuWeather's forecast matches up pretty well with the Farmers' Almanac prediction, but only halfway aligns with The Old Farmer's Almanac prediction that calls for a cold and dry winter in Minnesota.
Anyway, "periods of cold & snow" seems like a pretty safe bet.
