Very cold air arrives this weekend

After a few days of warmer than average temperatures Thursday and Friday, they will be sent crashing Saturday and Sunday. In fact, they will crash down to levels we have not yet seen this winter thus far.

A powerful cold front races across Minnesota and into Iowa late Friday afternoon and into the overnight hours Friday night. Temperatures will QUICKLY drop behind this cold front, down into the single digits by early Saturday morning!

Temperatures do not rebound much, if at all, Saturday, with highs in the low teens. Winds will be gusting up to 30 mph at times, promoting wind chills to only peak near 0F Saturday afternoon.

Even colder temperatures work their way into the area Saturday night and Sunday. High temperatures will not even make it above 0F Sunday, with brisk northwest winds gusting up to 25 mph at times. With sustained winds at 10 to 15 mph, this would yield a wind chill of around -25F or so Sunday afternoon! Sunday morning wind chills could be as low as -30F!

Even colder air arrives Monday, with morning lows both Monday and Tuesday in the negative teens. Winds will once again be brisk out of the northwest Monday, sustained around 10 to 15 mph, gusting up to 20 mph at times. The wind chill for these temperatures Monday and Tuesday morning? Around -35F….BRRRRRRRRR!!!!

Highs finally climb above 0F Tuesday, but only into the single digits. By next Wednesday, highs finally climb back into the low 20F’s, which is far more typical for this time of year.

The bottom line is this weekend and early next week will be COLD. You will want to bundle up well, given wind chills will be dangerously cold, and will lead to frostbite in less than 30 minutes.