FARGO-Somebody remember to plug in Rudolph.
Daily low temps in the Fargo-Moorhead area are forecast to drop to about zero Thursday and Friday night but, just like Santa and his reindeer, the real fun begins Sunday on Christmas Eve, when bone-chilling temperatures of double-digits below zero blanket the night.
By Christmas Day, Monday, Dec. 25, the low temperature is forecast to hit the teens below zero with a high near zero.
And that cold snap could linger for several days next week, with highs below zero or in the single digits and lows double-digits below zero.
And while that will be a pronounced change from what the area has experienced so far this December, such changes are not unusual for this time of year, according to John Wheeler, chief meteorologist at WDAY.
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Wheeler said it has to do with cooling air masses near the North Pole and the jet stream, which in December tends to shift southward, which allows cold air from the north to slip into the region.
Residents here may feel they're alone in enduring such large temperature swings, but Wheeler said the same thing happens elsewhere around the country, including Texas, where he said winter temperatures can swing from 80 degrees to 25 degrees in a day.
"They (Texans) think they've got the wildest weather in the country," Wheeler said.
Nonetheless, if the teens below zero sounds chilling, just remember we've been through it all before at Christmastime.
The 12 (coldest) days of Christmas:
Brad Hopkins of the National Weather Service in Grand Forks provided the 12 coldest Christmas Day temperatures for Fargo, and here it is from less cold to most cold:
Nos. 12, 11, and 10: 2012, 1993, and 1962: - 13 degrees
No. 9: 1977: -14 degrees
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No. 8: 2000: -15 degrees
No. 7: 1966: -18 degrees
Nos. 6 and 5: 1990 and 1968: -20 degrees
Nos. 4 and 3: 1964 and 1948: -22 degrees
No. 2: 1892: -26 degrees
No. 1: 1996: -27 degrees
The winter that began in 1996 was cold and snowy, with lots of blizzards and a record snowfall of 117 inches.
Wheeler said after all the snow and wind to start that winter, Christmas Day 1996 dawned bright and still.
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"It was a clear, bluebird sky and no wind at all, and bitterly cold. But the roads were open, you could get to Grandma's for Christmas," he said.
