Instead teeth-chattering cold, Minnesota could be in for record-shattering cold Saturday night and into the next week.
The National Weather Service in Chanhassen issued a Wind Chill Warning for Minnesota beginning at 9 p.m. Saturday.
"We're talking about wind chills in the Twin Cities in the negative 30s, with wind chills in the negative 40s and 50s outside of the metro," said National Weather Service meteorologist Nick Carletta.
Carletta told WCCO Radio's Steve Thompson that the cold weather snap is approaching some historic milestones.
"According to some early data, if our forecast verifies, this could be the fifth coldest ten-day period within the Twin Cities on record," said Carletta.
The Wind Chill Warning covers most of the state as wind chills will range from -30 to -50 into Sunday.
Even the record low air temperatures could see a challenge.
"We'll have to really keep an eye on some of those as record lows could be at risk some of these nights," Carletta said. "Record lows this time of year are in the mid-to-negatives 20s. If we fall into that minus 30 area, records will be falling."
Earlier this week, Dr. David Hilden at Hennepin Healthcare told WCCO Radio's Dave Lee that frostbite is a very serious and dangerous concern.
"If the wind chills is 10, 20, or 30 below you can't have any exposed skin at all," Dr. Hilden said. "That will cause frostbite in just minutes."
In the past week, HCMC treated over 30 frostbite patients from across the state.
"It only takes a matter of minutes to get frostbite," Dr. Hilden. "Wear several, loose-fitting layers. Loose layers are better than tight-fitting layers against the skin."
Signs and symptoms of frostbite include: Cold skin and a prickling feeling, numbness, red, white, bluish-white or grayish-yellow skin, hard or waxy looking skin, clumsiness due to joint and muscle stiffness, blistering after rewarming, in severe cases.
Some good news? Warmer temperatures are on the horizon.
