Bundle up, Minnesota. The longest cold snap in nearly six years is on the way, and the mercury might not rise above zero from Saturday night until Tuesday afternoon. An arctic air mass that originated in Siberia will send temperatures tumbling from the balmy 30s Friday morning to well below zero for the weekend,

The NWS extreme cold warning for Duluth said: "The dangerously cold wind chills as low as 40 below zero could cause frostbite on exposed skin in as little as 10 minutes. Frostbite and hypothermia will occur if unprotected skin is exposed to these temperatures. An extended period of freezing temperatures could cause ruptured water pipes."

Blizzard warning: Kittson County, the northwestern-most county in Minnesota, is under a blizzard warning until 9 p.m. Friday. There's not a lot of snow falling, but winds are gusting up to 60 mph and causing dangerous travel conditions.

According to the European model, there's a chance that the air temperature at MSP could hit -20°F for the first time since 2019.

"The warmth peaks Thursday and Friday before we go back into the deep freeze this weekend," the National Weather Service says — and Minnesota will be in the bullseye of the coldest temps and wind chills in the nation.

The National Weather Service has issued an Extreme Cold Warning for northern parts of Minnesota and a Cold Weather Advisory for the southern part of the state.

An extreme cold watch is issued when there is a possibility of the air temp or wind chill dropping to -35 or -40. To meet the threshold of an extreme cold warning, there has to be a likelihood that the air temp or wind chill will reach -35 in the Twin Cities, or -40 in northern Minnesota.

Additionally, a winter weather advisory is set for dozens of counties in eastern North Dakota and northern Minnesota.

A clipper system is set to bring several inches of snow to Minnesota at the weekend. The latest forecast from the National Weather Service is showing potential snow ranging from trace amounts in the southwest of the state to up to 6 inches in the Grand Marais area of the North Shore.

The National Weather Service forcasted wind chills as low as -24 degrees on Saturday and even lower for Saturday night in Willmar. The frigid was forecasted to last through Tuesday.

The NWS has issued warnings this weekend after a powerful polar vortex plunged temperatures nationwide during the week.

The National Weather Service has declared that dozens of counties in the region – at least two thirds of North Dakota and approximately the entire northern half of Minnesota – will be in an extreme cold warning from 6 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 18, through noon Tuesday, Jan. 21.