Minnesota weather: What to expect with extreme cold warning Thursday-Friday
MN weather: Wednesday forecast update
FOX 9's Cody Matz shares an update to the frigid forecast for Minnesota.
MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) - An extreme cold warning is in effect for Minnesota starting Thursday evening, when wind chills could reach 40 and 50 below zero in much of the state.
Extreme cold in Minnesota
Local perspective:
The National Weather Service has issued an extreme cold warning from Thursday evening until Friday morning for much of Minnesota. Dangerously cold wind chills are expected by Thursday night and Friday morning.
READ MORE: Do trees actually explode from 'extreme' cold?
Wind chills could reach 30-50 below zero by Thursday night, which could cause frostbite on exposed skin in as little as 10 minutes.
Forecast wind chill for 9:30 p.m. on Thursday, Jan. 21, 2026.
Minnesota weather forecast
Timeline:
Arctic air starts moving in Thursday, with temperatures peaking near 8 degrees midday before falling through the afternoon under partly sunny skies. Overnight lows drop into the subzero teens.
Friday turns frigid with a high of around 8 degrees below zero. Saturday remains bitterly cold with temperatures staying below zero.
Dig deeper:
If the current forecast holds with a high temperature of 8 degrees below zero on Friday, it would be tied for the third-coldest high temperature since 2000. However, the Twin Cities saw a day of 6 below zero last year. So this is comparable to our typical one dose every year, or every other year, but may be dialed up just a notch from many of our usual super cold January cold snaps.
The record cold high temperature for Jan. 23 in the Twin Cities is 16 below zero, set in 1936. So while Friday's blast of frigid air will be dangerous, and doesn't happen all the often, it still won't break a record.
