It has been quite a while since Minneapolis endured a sub zero day but the depth of trough diving into the Upper Midwest this weekend and early next week looks likely to support the coldest weather in nearly 4 years.

Sunday through at least Tuesday looks to hold temperatures below 10F with Monday likely to remain under 0F following a frigid Monday AM low of –13F. Tuesday AM will likely start just as cold but a steady warming trend should begin with highs perhaps climbing back into the low teens. Nights could drop below zero through Wednesday so this will be the coldest streak for at least two winters. Last year of course was very mild.

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While the core of coldest air hits the Upper Midwest Monday, Chicago looks to suffer the coldest so far by Tuesday with a high only warming to around 9 or 10F. 2 nights are likely to drop below zero with the coldest arctic outbreak in at least 2 years. The coldest night looks to be Monday night into Tuesday with a low near –4F.

Further east and temperatures hold in the mid-teens for Indianapolis, Cleveland, Detroit, Pittsburgh with lows diving into single digits, perhaps near 0.

The I-95 corridor from Washington DC up to New York should only warm to 30-32F by Monday and low 20s on Tuesday. Boston will stay in the teens with lows perhaps near zero. Yeah, just when you thought it would never get cold eh! Lows could get down into the low teens.

Don’t expect this to be the worst this winter will throw at you. This may be the ‘warmest’ of at least 3 waves of arctic air over the next 3 weeks. Although models do show warming again over the East late next week, a secondary wave of stronger cold looks to come down the Plains beyond the 26th and this should spread east.

A cold wave between Jan 26 – Feb 3 could bring multiple sub zero days to Minneapolis, perhaps even a sub zero day to Chicago. –10s and –20s could get all the way to Kansas with the zero line dropping well below Amarillo, TX with daytime highs staying in single digits.

Like with the approaching cold in coming days, the Major Cities of the I-95, won’t escape. Daytime highs could well stay in the teens for a few days while overnight lows dip into single digits.

Looking even further out, another wave of arctic air appears to dive south.

This much colder pattern was made no secret and was highlighted since way back at New Year. We’ve had the warmth and yes, we’ll see more ‘mild’ in the next 7-10 days but it will be overshadowed by the amount of cold in this pattern.
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