All the cold, none of the snow

• In places without machine snowmaking, there have been no opportunities for sledding, cross-country skiing and snowman building — things that allow many of us to embrace winter and stay sane.

By the numbers: As of Wednesday, the Twin Cities had received just under 10 inches of snow this winter. Normally, we would have 24 inches by now, according to the National Weather Service.

• Meanwhile, mean January temperatures of 12.6 degrees have been about 4 degrees below normal, NWS meteorologist Brennan Dettmann told Axios.

Threat level: The mini warm spell today and Friday could melt away what little snow cover is left in parts of the Twin Cities, Dettmann said.

• There's no snow in the seven-day forecast, and the NWS's Climate Prediction Center doesn't have any clear signals about what might happen the rest of the winter.

What we're watching: It's going to get face-chapping cold this weekend, with lows falling to -10 to -15 degrees.

• The mercury won't get above 0 degrees from Saturday night until Tuesday afternoon, according to the hourly forecast.

The bottom line: Time to fire up Netflix.