Get ready for the coldest weather of the season so far arriving Wednesday afternoon and continuing into Thursday then moderating temperatures Friday and into the weekend.

Mainly cloudy today in the Twin Cities with colder than average temperatures (average is 31 degrees) and highs in the mid 20s with northwest winds at 5-15 mph producing wind-chills of 15-20 degrees this afternoon. Cloudy tonight with light snow after 6 p.m. and snow accumulations up to 1″ in spots by 5 a.m. Wednesday but most areas probably just a coating under 1″. Turning much colder and windy into Wednesday with 7 a.m. temperatures near 9 degrees and wind-chills -5 to -15 below with northwest winds at 15-25 mph.

Bitter cold temperatures and winds on Wednesday with cloudy skies and flurries in the morning then becoming sunny in the afternoon with temperatures falling from 9 degrees at noon to zero by 5 p.m. with afternoon wind-chills -15 to -20 below and northwest winds at 15-25 mph. Bitter cold and windy with clear skies Wednesday night and low temperatures near -4 below and -20 to -25 below wind-chills by 7 a.m. Thursday.

Thursday will start very cold with morning temperatures climbing slowly above zero around the noon hour. Northwest winds at 10-15 mph Thursday morning will keep wind-chills at the bus stop at -20 to -25 with actual air temperatures around -4 below. Thursday will be sunny with decreasing winds in the afternoon from the west-northwest at 5-15 mph and temperatures rising to 7 degrees with afternoon wind-chills 0 to -5 below. Partly cloudy Thursday night with light winds and lows near 2 degrees by Friday morning and Friday morning wind-chills -5 to -15 Below.

Not as cold Friday with partly cloudy skies and highs in the low 20s with southeast winds at 5-15 mph. Partly to mostly cloudy Friday night with temperatures holding steady around 20 degrees.

Storm system will move into Minnesota on Saturday bringing mix of rain and snow from Twin Cities and points south while central and northern Minnesota could see accumulating snow of +3″. Highs Saturday in the low to mid 30s. Partly cloudy on Sunday with highs in the mid 30s.

A storm system will move back into Minnesota on Monday and once again bring mix of rain and snow from Twin Cities and south and accumulating snow central and northern Minnesota. JONATHAN YUHAS