Overcast but relatively mild; light snow possible Christmas Day
Another night of cloudy skies resulted in temperatures some 30 degrees above normal over northern Minnesota. At 6 a.m. CST the temperature was 32 degrees at International Falls.
Last year on this date, International Falls recorded a record low of 34 below zero. It was 13 below a year ago in the Twin Cities.
Some regions were experiencing light precipitation. The coverage was sparse and not much was detected on radar.
Looking across the nation, active weather will impact much of the East Coast today and Christmas Eve. Meanwhile, another storm is moving across the northwestern United States.
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The 48-hour precipitation potential indicates as much as 2 inches of rain in some places out east.
Note the stripe of precipitation through the Dakotas and central Minnesota. This depicts the potential for an inch of snow on Christmas. It appears the best chance for snow is from east of Wheaton to near Duluth.
The Weather Prediction Center has about a 50 percent chance for an inch of snow in this region on Christmas Day.
High temperatures on Christmas are expected to remain above seasonal normals.
Since early this month temperatures have been running well above normal. The departure is on the order of 6 to 8 degrees warmer than the 30-year average.
Colder air arrives for the weekend, much more like December in Minnesota.
The Minnesota Climatology Working Group conducted a survey for the most memorable weather in 2014. Folks with good memories selected the cold winter as the No. 1 event.
Here is their summary of the most significant weather event in 2014:
#1 The cold winter of 2013-14
There were many noteworthy parts of the winter of 2013-14. There were 53 nights of at or below zero temperatures in the Twin Cities. This tied for fifth place for the number of times the mercury dipped at or below zero in the Twin Cities for winters going back to 1872-73. International Falls had 92 at or below zero readings, tying 1977-78 as the most ever. Another measure was the extremely cold wind chill temperatures. The coldest wind chill temperature was -48 at the Twin Cities on Jan. 6 and for the state it was -63 degrees at the Grand Marais-Cook County Airport. The winter of 2013-14 will be one to compare to for many years to come.
A complete run down of the memorable weather for Minnesota for 2014 can be viewed here.
Have a safe and enjoyable Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.