The New Year got off to a cold start as the mercury dipped to 36 below zero at 8:15a.m. Tuesday. This smothered the all-time low for Jan. 1 of minus 18 in 1968.

At 8 a.m. today, New Ulm had gone 87 consecutive hours with temperatures below zero. It fell below at 5 p.m. Saturday and has stayed under since. There was a warmup, though, today and the outlook was to go above zero with some light snow.

Another record was set today when the low was minus 22. Previous record low for Jan. 2 was minus 18.

The chiller almost cut off outdoor sports for the holiday. Few braved the weather to skate, ski or go snowmobiling.

Temperatures in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area set a new minimum record for the fourth straight day this morning, 21 below zero.

Warmer weather was to begin moving into the region today, with highs in Minnesota ranging from 8 below to 8 above zero. Lows tonight will range from 18below to 5 above. Highs Thursday will range from 5 below to 12 above.

The high pressure area which brought the record low temperatures into the state had moved into Illinois by early today, and was moving rapidly eastward. Behind the high, a low was moving in, bringing with it cloudiness and some snow to extreme southern Minnesota.

AREA: Cloudy with occasional light snow south, chance of very light snow or flurries north. About 1 inch of new snow is expected to accumulate extreme southeast by tonight. Partial clearing Thursday with slight chance of flurries. Low tonight 3 above to 12 below. High Thursday 3-10 above.