Fresh off fighting through several inches of snow two weeks into what the calendar calls spring, Twin Citians and others around the state now are bracing for what should be record low temperatures this week.
Melting of the newly fallen snow appears out of the question, at least for Wednesday, when the high is forecast to stop just short of 30 degrees, while the looming overnight low dips to 6, according to the latest from the National Weather Service (NWS). The record low for an April 4 is 5.
For Thursday's maybe-maybe not home opener for the roof-free Minnesota Twins, the forecast is for the high to sneak above freezing to 34 and maybe up to a half-inch of snow for bad measure, the NWS said, followed by a nighttime low of 15.
The most certain day for record cold is Friday, with a low of 5 easily eclipsing 1979's 10-degree reading for an April 6 in the Twin Cities.
The Weather Service envisions no high temperatures touching 40 all the way through next Tuesday. For this time of year, highs average in the low 50s.
"Winter continues," reads a long-term forecast statement issued Wednesday by the Weather Service's metro area headquarters in Chanhassen. "It's not too surprising to see snow in early April, but the degree of the cold we will be experiencing into early next week is highly anomalous.
"We will almost certainly continue to break some daily records and could even break monthly records."
Elsewhere in Minnesota, several communities were waking to readings below zero. The farthest south among those in minus territory was Staples in central Minnesota with 4 below at 6 a.m.
As for these past two days of snow, some of the deeper totals from around the metro include 10.6 inches in northeast Minneapolis, 9.7 in Chanhassen, 9 at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport and 8 in Carver.
Paul Walsh • 612-673-4482
