Merry Christmas Eve, Minnesota!

Yesterday's epic blizzard created whiteout conditions across Minnesota, leaving many motorists stranded and major highways closed. Early snowfall reports show nearly 9 inches of snow at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport last night, and some locations in the state observed extremely strong wind gusts, up to 70 mph Lake Benton and Grand Marais. 

Brace yourself, a cold snap hits Minnesota next. Bitterly cold air behind the storm is dropping wind chills into the minus 20s to nearly minus 30 in northwest Minnesota.
Highs today will hover in the single digits above zero across Minnesota. Get the latest on the Updraft weather blog.

We are likely to see another pandemic milestone today no one wants: Minnesota is on the doorstep of 5,000 deaths. 

Almost nine months to the day Minnesota reported it’s first COVID-19 death, the state is likely to mark an awful milestone — 5,000 total deaths — by week’s end, and probably Thursday. Some 2,500 deaths reported in November and December account for more than half of Minnesota's total death toll in the pandemic so far. 

At the same time, there’s reason for guarded optimism. New caseloads, hospitalizations and the number of active cases are all trending downward in recent days.

Here are Minnesota’s current COVID-19 statistics:

• 4,971 deaths (75 more)
• 402,519 positive cases(1,513 new), 379,512 off isolation (94 percent)
• 5.3 million tests, 2.9 million people tested (about 51 percent of the population)
• 5.6 percent seven-day positive test rate (officials find 5 percent concerning)

Heads up if you're planning to get COVID-19 testing during this holiday season: There will be no holiday testing available at community testing sites. 

A number of community testing sites closed early amid yesterday's snowstorm, and all community testing locations will be closed for the Christmas and New Year's holidays. If you'd like to get a COVID-19 test, you are also able to order an at-home saliva test from the state Health Department at no cost. 

In a close-knit town of Sauk Centre, Minn., residents are showing support for health care workers at a local hospital.

Last month, CentraCare designated its Sauk Centre hospital to care for COVID-19 patients, which was a big change for health care workers and residents of the central Minnesota town To show their support and gratitude for front-line workers, a group of community residents organized a "snack train" to deliver snacks and cards to health care workers at the Sauk Centre hospital every day. "We all know somebody who's working there or who's been hospitalized because of COVID,” says Nikki Linscheid, a teacher in Sauk Centre. “We're all kind of searching for a way of how can we help our local heroes."