Warmer than average temperatures on Tuesday gave way to frigid cold Wednesday as the Twin Cities saw a 48-degree swing, according to the National Weather Service in Chanhassen.

Minneapolis/St. Paul International Airport recorded a high of 53 on Tuesday, followed by a low of 5 degrees Wednesday. The Twin Cities also received a dusting of snow Tuesday evening.

NWS Metereologist Brennan Dettmann said it would certainly be “within the top ten” of day-to-day temperature records, though he didn’t have historical data immediately available. Much of the rest of the state also experienced swings of temperatures around 40 to 50 degrees or so, he noted.

What’s causing it?

“Things are starting to warm up as the sun angle changes, you get … warmer weather at higher latitudes,” Dettmann said. “You start to get big temperature differences between air masses in Canada and near the equator … you get those really quick shifts in temperatures. We’re right in the middle line of where those air masses fluctuate.”

Don’t expect the cold to stick around, though. Dettmann said temperatures are forecast to start climbing back into the 40s and 50s, and even 60s by this weekend — which is roughly 20 degrees warmer for this time of the year.

Dettmann said this is his first winter in the Twin Cities.

“It certainly stands out for how warm it’s been and it’s been one of the least  snowiest winters ever,” he said. “This is unofficially in contention for the warmest winter (on record).”

Related Articles

Enjoy the spring-like warmth? Temperatures will plummet to single digits Tuesday.

White Bear Lake: If ice-out contest is underway, spring can’t be far away

7 inches but no snow emergency in St. Paul? Here’s why.

Newspaper delivery delayed by up to two hours on Thursday

Valentine’s Day snow was a record breaker for the Twin Cities

After a disappointing, 3-2 loss to Carolina on Tuesday at Xcel Energy Center, the Wild find themselves six points out of a Western Conference playoff spot with 23 regular-season games remaining.

So, the Wild aren’t dead yet, and in fact have been playing well, 7-2-1 since returning to the all-star break to rise two places in the conference standings. But, boy, their margin for error is thin.

Which makes Thursday night’s game against the Predators in Nashville the kind of game that can make or break this belated run at making the playoffs for the third straight season, fourth if you include the 2020 COVID season.

Right?

“No,” head coach John Hynes said after Tuesday’s game.

“I think this time of year, you’ve gotta be a little leery of getting into, ‘This is the biggest game of the year,’ ” the coach added. “It’s an emotional time of the year. Every game matters, but it’s not like we’re at Game 72 or 73 right now.”

What else is he going to say? Any coach in any sport will tell you, with a straight face, that anything other than an elimination game is not a must-win game, and Thursday’s game against the surging Predators isn’t close to being an elimination game, nor is Saturday’s game at St. Louis.

But let’s be real; they’re close enough.

“They’re not just any other games,” general manager Bill Guerin said Wednesday. “These are huge. These are the two teams ahead of us, and we’ve got a chance to close the gap. These are huge games for us.”

Nashville has won six straight for the current claim on the second conference wild card playoff spot in the West, and virtually tied with Los Angeles for the first, six points ahead of Minnesota. Thursday represents a four-point sway for both teams. A Minnesota loss puts the Wild eight back with 22 games left.

That’s farther out than the Wild were after losing consecutive home games to Nashville and Anaheim on Jan. 25 and Jan. 27. These are the wages of the Wild’s 5-10-4 start, which concluded with a seven-game losing streak and head coach Dean Evason losing his job.

Losing at home to Carolina, a good team the Wild were nevertheless outplaying for most of the first two periods, stung. Yeah, it wasn’t a conference game, but it was two points they had in their grasp and let drop.

“Hynesy just said something very valuable, that we can’t get too low on losses here and we can’t get too high on wins,” defenseman Declan Chisholm said after the game. “It’s an emotional time, for sure. We’ve gotta play the long game and just stick with it.”

But the long game is becoming shorter, especially with the March 8 trade deadline looming. How close do the Wild need to be for Guerin not to cut bait on the season and try to get something for impending free agents such as Nick Bogosian, Brandon Duhaime or, if possible, Pat Maroon?

Guerin already has added a body, 2020 second-round draft pick Marat Khusnutdinov, who will join the Wild as soon as his work visa is secured. Whether anyone might be leaving is unclear.

“I just gotta play it by ear,” Guerin said. “I haven’t made any decisions on anybody yet. I’ve had plenty of discussions about a lot of different scenarios, but I don’t know yet.”

Since Hynes became coach on Nov. 28, the Wild are 23-14-2, a significant improvement, no doubt. But the team also has spit the bit on a few crucial games this season, most notably those two losses before the all-star break. Beating Nashville, a team the Wild beat 6-1 in their previous meeting, would have pulled Minnesota within two points of eighth place.

Instead, they played a fairly uninspired game and lost, 3-2, then inexplicably lost to a terrible Anaheim team two days later. The Wild have played well enough to stay in it, and have beaten some good teams, but not well enough to get over the hump.

In that sense, a win Thursday at Bridgestone Arena would be something of a first this season, and a loss would be another kick in the shins.

It’s true, Thursday’s game in Nashville won’t literally make or break the season, but it will go a long way toward pushing it in either direction.

It’s the biggest game of the year.

Related Articles

John Shipley: Can the Wild rally for a playoff spot? Trust the standings

John Shipley: Wild coaching change has worked, but it’s still up to the players

INDIANAPOLIS — Kirk Cousins is really good at this part. Like, among the best in the NFL. If there was a Hall of Fame for the business side, he would get in on the first ballot.

Since being selected in the 2012 NFL Draft, Cousins has earned more than $230 million in total, often helping reset the market for quarterbacks during the negotiation process.

It raises the question with Cousins set to become a free agent next month: How much are the Vikings going to have to spend to keep him on the roster?

Conversations at the NFL Combine in Indianapolis this week will go a long way in answering that question.

There will almost certainly be contact made between general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah, head coach Kevin O’Connell and Cousins’ agent Mike McCartney. The topic of discussion will center on what exactly Cousins is looking for as he prepares to sign his next contract.

If anything is clear at this point, it’s that the Vikings want to keep Cousins, 35, around for the foreseeable future. Whenever Adofo-Mensah or O’Connell have been asked about Cousins this week, both have been effusive in their praise. They would love nothing more than to reach an agreement in the near future.

“What we do know is we have a really great quarterback,” Adofo-Mensah said. “He’s somebody that we think we can win the ultimate prize with.”

“My feelings on Kirk Cousins really have not wavered,” O’Connell said. “If anything they’re stronger now having gone through a lot of adversity together.”

Those kind words only go so far in the negotiation process.

Talking to reporters at TCO Performance Center in Eagan last month, Cousins tried to push the narrative forward, alluding to the fact that he wants to feel valued by the organization. That might be the most important part for him at this stage of his career. Especially coming off a torn Achilles tendon.

“It’s not about the dollars,” he said. “It’s about what the dollars represent.”

Though he wouldn’t elaborate on the statement, it’s not hard to read between the lines. He wants to be wanted perhaps more than anything else, and as far as Cousins is concerned, the best way for the Vikings to show that is by putting their money where their mouth is.

If the Vikings aren’t willing to do that for Cousins, it wouldn’t be a shock to see him test free agency.

The list of teams other than the Vikings that could be looking for a quarterback include the Atlanta Falcons, the Las Vegas Raiders and maybe even the Denver Broncos, among a handful of others.

There’s a good chance McCartney will have some informal meetings this week independent of his communication with the Vikings.

It’s probably not a coincidence that Cousins posted a video on social media this week of himself throwing the ball after going through a full dropback. He was clearly trying to show how much progress he has made in his recovery. Asked about the video, O’Connell didn’t seem surprised by it in the slightest.

“I’ve been in contact with him pretty much weekly,” O’Connell said. “He’s doing some of his rehab with our folks in house. He’s also doing some rehab away from our facility as well. I know every check-in I get both either from the medical side or from Kirk himself is always pretty shocking as far as how far along he is already.”

As optimistic as the Vikings seem to be as they continue to navigate the NFL Combine this week, they are also admittedly making contingency plans just in case the negotiation process with Cousins doesn’t go according to plan.

“We have our interests and he has his,” Adofo-Mensah said. “We’ll get to the table and see if we can figure out a creative solution on how to meet in the middle.”

Related Articles

Vikings ranked No. 2 in league for workplace conditions by anonymous NFLPA report cards

Vikings hire NFL journeyman Josh McCown as quarterbacks coach

Vikings GM Kwesi Adofo-Mensah has no interest in trading Justin Jefferson

Here are five questions Vikings must answer at this week’s NFL Combine

Charley Walters: Timberwolves buyers may need another extension