Are You Ready For A Warm-Up?

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- If it seems like we've been in a deep freeze since time began, and if it seems like it's been bone-chillingly cold enough to stop time ever since, relief is on the way.

As temperatures dawned Thursday morning just barely on the comfortable side of negative double digits, WCCO meteorologist Mike Augustyniak is predicting a warming trend just in time for Valentine's Day.

"A cold start this morning, but it's going to be the last one for awhile," Augustyniak said.

Friday could bring some patchy snowflakes, but nothing that's expected to really stick. As we move into the weekend, temperatures should start to enter the positive double digits for a change. By early next week, highs will exceed the freezing mark.

Next Wednesday's high is currently forecasted for 40 degrees, but could even reach as high as 45 degrees, with overnight lows staying above 20 degrees.

"If you have been waiting for those ice ruts at the base of the driveway to go away, I've got some weather that will do that," said Augustyniak. "If you've been waiting to shed a few layers of clothes, I've got some weather that will do that."

Here's a few other things you may be able to do early next week:

• Feel the end of your nose,
• See clearly, without being encased in a mini shroud of breath fog,
• Blink your eyes without using an ice scraper,
• Wear jeans with only one pair of long johns underneath,
• Puddle jump, but watch out for bottomless potholes,
• Drive to the car wash without first finding your jumper cables,
• Toss a Frisbee at Calhoun but not on Calhoun,
• Take the booties off your dog's paws,
• Clear off those deck chairs. That's it, pretty much. Just clear them off.