NOAA's Minnesota winter outlook will make you shiver

MINNEAPOLIS -- The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association's latest outlook on the upcoming winter paints a grim, and potentially colder, view for much of Minnesota.

The report, released Thursday, shows the state facing "below average" temperatures for the months of December, January, and February.

When it comes to precipitation, the maps show "equal chances" for what is normal in a common year.

"There is time that this forecast could end up changing," NEXT Weather Meteorologist Mike Augustyniak said. "But right now, all the signs – the computer models and the historic look at what happened with the pattern like this in the past -- and applying that to the future, both of those are telling NOAA this is probably going to be a colder than average winter."

Augustyniak says this likely means daytime highs in the low teens and single digits for extended periods of time during the winter, with nighttime lows consistently falling below zero during that time.

"Book a vacation now for the winter if you don't like the cold," he said. "But also, keep in mind that this is an average over three months."