Coldest day of the winter is possible this week in Minnesota

An air temp of -30F isn't out of the question too far from the metro.

Author:
Joe Nelson
Publish date:
Jan 24, 2022

Meteorologist Sven Sundgaard is monitoring just how cold it's going to get Tuesday and Wednesday in Minnesota.

Thirty below zero in the Twin Cities? Probably not because of the urban heat island effect, but the National Weather Service isn't ruling out some insanely cold air temps – and even colder wind chills – Tuesday and Wednesday.

The NWS is forecasting a low of -13 Tuesday morning in Minneapolis, followed by a daytime high of -3. Then on Wednesday, the morning low in Minneapolis is forecast to reach -18, which would be the coldest air temp this winter at MSP Airport, which is the official weather station for the Twin Cities.

"At the moment, forecast lows range between -15 to -25F below zero," says the NWS Twin Cities about Wednesday morning, "but it's entirely possible lows could approach 30 below zero or colder across central MN and western WI if ideal cooling conditions can be met."

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The coldest air temps recorded at MSP Airport this winter have mostly occurred this month, led by the -17 on Jan. 7. We could break that Wednesday morning.

-17 on Jan. 7
-14 on Jan. 2
-11 on Jan. 1 and Jan. 20
-10 on Jan. 6
-9 on Jan. 10
-8 on Jan. 21
-7 on Dec. 29
-5 on Jan. 19
-4 on Jan. 9

Last year, the Twin Cities never dipped below zero for the entire month of January, though we paid for it in February with 12 straight days (Feb. 6-17) of subzero lows.

Feb. 6: -12
Feb. 7: -16
Feb. 8: -10
Feb. 9: -8
Feb. 10: -6
Feb. 11: -10
Feb. 12: -13
Feb. 13: -12
Feb. 14: -19
Feb. 15: -17
Feb. 16: -15
Feb. 17: -3

Wind chills will be worse than the air temps through Wednesday. The NWS has posted a wind chill warning for parts of central, western and northern Minnesota, and a wind chill advisory for the rest of the state, including the Twin Cities.