textproduct: Duluth

KEY MESSAGES

- Extremely dangerous cold temperatures are expected through the weekend, with multiple days of temperatures below zero and wind chills as low as 40 to 60 degrees below zero.

- Flurries and scattered snow showers are possible today. Some snow showers may be locally heavy with visibility less than 1/2 mile. Accumulation generally less than a tenth of an inch. A few areas may see around an inch.

- Light lake effect snow and clouds may persist along the South Shore into the weekend.

DISCUSSION

Issued at 316 AM CST Thu Jan 22 2026

Today's Weather: The cold air is starting to spill into the region this morning, but even with how cold it is right now and will be through noon today, the worst will be yet to come this afternoon and tonight. For now, temperatures have fallen into the single digits and teens below zero in northeast Minnesota with wind chills as low as -30 in the Borderlands. This is about on track with what we've been forecasting, and additional cooling is expected over the next few hours. The only areas that might be slightly underachieving would be down towards the Brainerd Lakes to I-35 corridor with wind chills only into the teens right now, but there too, it should just keep getting colder. We have therefore retained all Extreme Cold Warnings and Cold Weather Advisories as they have previously been issued.

We also have some areas of clouds and embedded flurries or light snow showers moving into northeast Minnesota from the west. This is associated with some low-level instability with the cold air advection, a weak surface low, and coupled lift ahead of an approaching upper-level trough. The main cold front that will really usher in the coldest of the cold air will pass through this morning. With all this, we may see the clouds and light snow persist at least through the morning, but I wouldn't be surprised if some afternoon flurries or light snow showers persist with low-level instability increasing behind the cold front. There won't be much moisture to work with, so expect just a dusting for some places.

Extreme Cold this Afternoon through Friday Morning: The main story this afternoon will definitely be the quick arrival of extreme cold. The pressure gradient is expected to tighten up and winds will strengthen in tandem with the strong cold air advection. We should not see really any temperature recovery today. Temperatures may plateau for a bit this morning, but expect temperatures to tumble like a rock this afternoon. We should see the first arrival of -40 wind chills in the early to mid afternoon in northeast Minnesota. Extreme Cold Warnings go into effect at 2 PM for all Minnesota counties and 6 PM for all Wisconsin counties.

For tonight, confidence is about as high as it can get that we will see widespread wind chills at or below -40. The core of the arctic blast will be over us through the night and into Friday morning, and along with that will be a fairly tight pressure gradient that will keep wind speeds and gusts around 15-25 mph (to 30 mph along the North Shore). We have anywhere from 40-80% chance of temperatures falling below -25 tonight regionwide, and much of northeast Minnesota and perhaps a few interior places in northwest Wisconsin may fall to around -30 (30-60% chance). All-in-all, just a brutal night out there, and the wind chills of -40 or below are expected to stick around well into the morning hours. An Extreme Cold Warning is in effect from 2 PM this afternoon through noon Friday for the entire region.

Extreme Cold Friday Afternoon through Saturday: Expect wind chills to improve a bit Friday afternoon (though only rising to around -25 to -35 or so). Winds remain on the breezy side through the afternoon, then as high pressure moves in from the west-northwest, winds are expected to drop pretty quickly after sunset. We will still be within the core of the arctic air, but there is still quite a bit of uncertainty about how cold wind chills will actually fall Friday night into Saturday morning. As high pressure passes just south of the Northland, we may retain some light winds, and it doesn't take much wind to really drop wind chills. But also possible is that winds may become nearly calm. In that case, we would still expect some very cold overnight temperatures, in fact likely colder than what we're expecting tonight since this will be a much better radiational cooling night. I've kept lows around NBM 25th percentile, as this seems like a realistic middle-ground of the worst case scenario (a true radiational cooling night with calm winds, allowing air temperatures to fall into the -40s in the usual cold spots) to a slightly warmer solution where we could retain some winds and perhaps some areas of low clouds. At this time, we're hovering around criteria for Extreme Cold Warning versus Cold Weather Advisory, so for now, we will retain the Extreme Cold Watch. The most likely areas to see either air temperatures or wind chills fall to that -40 or below range would be parts of the North and South Shores where winds should be a bit higher and possibly local interior areas in northeast Minnesota. We have high confidence that it will be another brutally cold night, but exactly how cold still remains a bit in question.

South Shore Lake-Effect Snow: With all the cold air in place and northwest winds, we can expect continuous, but generally light lake-effect clouds and snow along the South Shore. With such cold and dry air, there shouldn't be much moisture available to support any heavy lake- effect, but through the weekend, the usual lake-effect hot spots may pick up ~1-3 inches of snow in total through around Friday evening. As winds switch to southwesterly Friday night, lake- effect should end (except maybe the outer Apostle Islands).

Saturday Afternoon and Beyond: We're not getting rid of the cold anytime soon. We should see another night of lows falling into the teens and 20s below zero Saturday night. However, winds are looking to be rather light, so we will be flirting with the possibility of some Cold Weather Advisories for some places and perhaps some places maybe not requiring headlines at all.

Sunday night may be similarly cold as Saturday night, but perhaps slightly more windy. Some cold headlines can't be ruled out.

We may see some weak clipper activity bringing in some light snow early next week, but generally we're going to remain with a cold northwest flow pattern that will keep us with below normal temperatures (though perhaps warming up enough to keep us out of headline-worthy cold weather).

AVIATION /18Z TAFS THROUGH 18Z FRIDAY/

Issued at 1148 AM CST Thu Jan 22 2026

GOES-East satellite imagery indicates thin stratus and cumulus clouds over the Northland with more clouds upstream over southeast Manitoba and northwest Ontario. Expect snow showers to persist this afternoon with visibility between IFR and VFR along with MVFR to VFR ceilings. The heaviest snow showers may reduce visibility to less than 1/2 mile for less than 30 minutes. Coverage of those heavy snow showers is limited enough that we will keep TEMPO IFR visibility in place this afternoon. Thin clouds will likely persist into this evening along with flurries and light snow showers. Will reevaluate visibilities through the afternoon and may need to extend the period of MVFR/IFR visibility past 22Z. Gusty northwest winds will persist through the night and into Friday.

MARINE /FOR NEARSHORE WATERS OF WESTERN LAKE SUPERIOR/

Issued at 316 AM CST Thu Jan 22 2026

A strong cold front will move through today and bring extremely cold air behind it tonight and into this weekend. Expect strong winds gusting 20 to 30 kt from the northwest starting this morning and persisting through Friday afternoon. Heavy Freezing Spray is expected along the South Shore as well, especially tonight. Wave heights will rise to around 8 ft in the outer Apostles later this afternoon and tonight as well. As high pressure moves in Friday night, winds and waves are expected to decrease substantially. The next chance for winds that may be hazardous for small craft may not arrive again until Monday.

For the open water discussion, refer to the NWS Marquette Area Forecast Discussion at weather.gov/mqt.

DLH WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES

MN...Cold Weather Advisory until 2 PM CST this afternoon for MNZ018>021-025-026-033>037. Extreme Cold Warning until noon CST Friday for MNZ018>021-025- 026-033>038. Extreme Cold Watch from Friday afternoon through Saturday morning for MNZ010>012-018>021-025-026-033>038. Extreme Cold Warning until noon CST Friday for MNZ010>012. WI...Extreme Cold Watch from Friday afternoon through Saturday morning for WIZ001>004-006>009. Extreme Cold Warning from 6 PM this evening to noon CST Friday for WIZ001>004-006>009. MARINE...Small Craft Advisory until 4 PM CST Friday for LSZ140>148-150. Cold Weather Advisory until 2 PM CST this afternoon for LSZ142. Extreme Cold Warning until noon CST Friday for LSZ142. Extreme Cold Watch from Friday afternoon through Saturday morning for LSZ142. Heavy Freezing Spray Warning from 4 PM this afternoon to 4 AM CST Friday for LSZ145>147. Heavy Freezing Spray Warning until 10 AM CST Friday for LSZ150.