So far, December is running about 8 degrees below normal in the Red River Valley, mak-ing up for a similar margin of above-normal temperatures last month.
Call it the balance of nature.
The early frigidity is setting no records but it's bad enough.
In Langdon, N.D., early Thursday it fell to 27 degrees below zero, enough to freeze your coffee in mid-air.
Whatever that means.
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In Hallock, Minn, it fell to 22 below early Thursday; the low was 21 below at the Grand Forks International Airport and 16 below at the UND reporting site.
In Grand Forks on Wednesday, the average daily temperature of 14 below was 28 degrees below the 30-year norm for the date of 14 above as a daily average.
Symmetrical perhaps, but in a negative way.
Things improved Thursday to 20 degrees below normal: an average temperature of 7 be-low, compared with the norm of 13 above for the date.
The record low for Dec. 10 at UND is 27 below, in 1919.
For those longing for normality weather-wise, it may be a comfort to know that through Thursday, the total precipitation since Jan. 1 in Grand Forks has been 19.01 inches of snow, rain, sleet and hail, a total exactly at the 30-year norm, according to the National Weather Service. What are the chances of that?
The sub-normal cold is going to hang around for a few days, with a high of 2 above and a low of 7 below Monday, said Vanessa Pearce, an intern meteorologist in the weather service office at UND.
Winds remain brisk enough to require a wind chill advisory across the region Thursday and probably today again, as it feels like 25 to 35 below zero on exposed skin.
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- Today: Partly sunny, with a high near 2. Wind chill values as low as -31. West wind around 10 mph becoming south.
- Tonight: A 20 percent chance of snow. Mostly cloudy, with a low around -11. Wind chill values as low as -25. South wind 7 to 9 mph becoming northeast.
- Saturday: Mostly cloudy, with a high near 4. East northeast wind between 7 and 11 mph.
- Saturday night: Mostly cloudy, with a low around -8.
- Sunday: Partly sunny, with a high near 3.
- Sunday night: Mostly cloudy, with a low around -8.
- Monday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 2.
- Monday night: Partly cloudy, with a low around -7.
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- Tuesday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 7.
- Tuesday night: Mostly clear, with a low around -9.
- Wednesday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 10.
Reach Lee at (701) 780-1237; (800) 477-6572, ext. 237; or send e-mail to slee@gfherald.com .
