Arctic Blast Targeting Minnesota For Thanksgiving Week – How Cold Will It Get?

If you've somehow managed to get to this point without digging out your winter coat, it looks like it is finally time to get it out of the closet.

A few days ago, I shared some information from NOAA's Climate Prediction Center that a "pattern change" was on the way as we reach the end of November.

That pattern change that they have been forecasting suggests a drop in temperatures and increased precipitation chances.

While there has been a looming, loosely defined risk of heavy snow as part of that outlook that hasn't been clarified too much yet, the stark forecast drop does look like it is shaping up as forecasted.

READ MORE: Mall Of America Announces Big Black Friday Plans Including A Celebrity Appearance 

The weekend before Thanksgiving, Minnesota will enjoy temperatures in the mid-40s in the northern part of the state and 50s (and maybe even a 60) in the central and southern parts of Minnesota.

Monday (November 24) will be a little cooler, with 40s across the state. Tuesday (November 25), temperatures will sink into the mid-upper 30s in the western and northern parts of Minnesota, with Southeastern Minnesota clinging on to some 40s.

Wednesday is when the cold starts to settle in. The northern 2/3 of Minnesota likely won't get any warmer than the mid-20s, and far southern Minnesota will be around 30 degrees.

Thanksgiving Day, we get even colder. Far Northern Minnesota will see daytime highs in the teens above zero, with Central Minnesota "warming up" to around 20, and southern Minnesota seeing upper-20s. But wait, there's more!

Weather models looking at Black Friday (November 28) show daytime highs only in the teens for the northern 2/3 of the state and low 20s in the southern parts of Minnesota. Saturday and Sunday, teens above zero are about as warm as it will get across most of Minnesota, with parts of Northwestern Minnesota that might not even warm up above 10 degrees. Brrr!

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It looks like that pattern of colder temperatures will continue into the early days of December, too, so it doesn't seem like this will be a brief cold snap that'll only be a couple of days long.