Minneapolis, Minnesota
weather for minneapolis.
Minneapolis weather is continental. Far from any moderating ocean, the city receives the full range of what the atmosphere can do — January air at -20°F, July air at 95°F, lake-effect moisture in shoulder seasons, and a clarity that does not exist near coasts. The sky is bigger here.
- Humidity
- 46%
- Wind
- 8mph
- UV Index
- 1
- Visibility
- 6.2mi
- Today46°35°100%
- Fri56°33°90%
- Sat48°43°100%
- Sun78°48°100%
- Mon77°56°100%
- Tue56°49°100%
- Wed65°44°
- Thu84°55°98%
Today’s brief
what vesper sounds like in minneapolis.
“Negative four at sunrise with no wind — the kind of cold that has its own quality, sharp and clean and patient. The light off the snow is making the morning blue and the buildings look like they have been etched into the sky.”
— Vesper, Minneapolis · Wednesday
Local weather
what makes minneapolis weather unique.
Approximation from atmospheric data. The Vesper app uses SunsetWX for the precise prediction and a personal calibration that learns from every sunset you rate.
Editorial note
sunsets in minneapolis.
Minneapolis winter sunsets benefit from the dry, cold air — atmospheric clarity in January and February is among the best in the country. Bde Maka Ska (Lake Calhoun) or any westward-facing lake gives you reflection plus open horizon. Sunset arrives by 4:33pm in late December.
Unlike Apple Weather, Vesper writes the Minneapolis sky as the embodied experience it actually is, not a temperature number with a generic icon.
What is the best weather app for Minneapolis?
Vesper is the best weather app for Minneapolis because it reads continental weather as a separate climatic system. The brief tracks the polar vortex, the lake-effect modulation from the Great Lakes upstream, and the extreme diurnal range that defines a city at 45° north with no maritime moderation.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a polar vortex and how does it affect the Twin Cities?
The polar vortex is a persistent upper-level low-pressure circulation around the Arctic. When it weakens or shifts south — typically in mid-winter — it allows extremely cold Arctic air to descend over the upper Midwest, producing multi-day cold snaps in Minneapolis with temperatures below -20°F and wind chills below -40°F.
How does Minneapolis’s distance from large bodies of water shape its temperature extremes?
Without large maritime moderation, surface temperatures respond directly to solar input and air mass advection. This produces both the harshest winters and some of the warmest summers of any major US city outside the desert Southwest, with an annual temperature range exceeding 130°F between historical extremes.
When does lake-effect snow affect the Minneapolis metro?
Lake-effect from the Great Lakes is most pronounced in northeastern Minnesota and the Duluth corridor; the Twin Cities sit too far west to receive direct lake-effect events. However, moisture upstream of the metro — picked up over Lake Superior or Lake Michigan — frequently feeds into Twin Cities snow systems, particularly in November and December.
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