Minnesota’s Winter Outlook Suggests An Icy Turn This Season

UNDATED (WJON News) -- The updated winter outlook from the Climate Prediction Center was released on Thursday.

Read More: How La Niña Is Shaping Minnesota's Winter Weather Patterns |

Meteorologists are calling for a change in the weather pattern, going from a very mild and above-average fall as far as temperatures are concerned, to temperatures averaging below normal.

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The temperatures across the Midwest should be below normal for December as well as all three winter months of December, January, and February. It will be especially chilly in the far northwestern part of Minnesota.

High temperatures in St. Cloud at the beginning of December are typically around 32 degrees.

The Weather Channel's extended forecast is calling for highs only in the mid to lower 20s for the first week of December.

The high temperatures at the beginning of January are 22 degrees.  The highs are about 21 degrees to start February.

As far as precipitation is concerned, we've been very dry in Minnesota throughout the fall with very little rain or snow.   St. Cloud has had just 2.90 inches of rain since September 1st, which is 3.67 inches below normal.  We've only had a trace of snow so far this season, which is about 5.00 inches below normal.

The Climate Prediction Center is expecting a wetter than normal December for the northern part of the state, which is good news for snowmobilers.  Snowier-than-normal conditions are expected for the whole state into January and February, which might make for a good winter for outdoor recreation.

The last two winters have left snow lovers feeling disappointed, with 34.4 inches of snow last winter and 31.9 inches of snow the winter before that.  Both were well below normal for St. Cloud.  You have to go back to the winter of 2022-2023, when we had a record 88.2 inches of snow for the last time we had above normal snowfall.