Very warm and muggy Sunday; maybe stormy again later
Updated at approximately 3:30 p.m. on Sunday:
The Storm Prediction Center has issued its mid-afternoon updated convective outlook. While it pulls the slight risk area very slightly away from the southeast corner of the Twin Cities area compared to the morning outlook (in my earlier blog entry, farther down), the main change is to remove most of Wisconsin from the slight risk. Strong or severe thunderstorms that develop through this evening are likely to track across Iowa and southern Minnesota on a general path toward the La Crosse, Wisc. area.
Below is my blog entry from Sunday morning:
Sticky weather certainly hung around Saturday night and into Sunday. Many dew points have remained well into the 60s to around 70.
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Ripples of energy aloft grabbed some of this moisture and fired off a large cluster of thunderstorms with heavy rain that slid eastward during the night and into this morning. They have been weakening in recent hours as they exit southeastern Minnesota and zip across southern Wisconsin.
Areas of dense fog formed generally north and northwest of the Twin Cities, from around Cambridge all the way north to the Iron Range and North Shore, late in the night as temperatures dipped to near the dew point in those areas.
A toasty afternoon coming
Sunshine breaking out behind the thunderstorm clouds should push afternoon high temperatures into the 80s just about statewide. I am looking for about 87 in the Twin Cities Sunday afternoon. Winds will be light from the southwest.
Storms likely later, mainly south
A broad band across the middle of the country from Wyoming to Michigan will be susceptible to strong or severe thunderstorms later on Sunday and into Sunday night. Flash flooding is possible across northern Iowa and possibly into southernmost Minnesota.
Some storms could become severe late this afternoon or this evening across parts of southern and eastern Minnesota. A slight risk of severe storms, meaning that isolated or scattered severe storms are possible, has been posted across that area. It comes right up through Goodhue County just southeast of the Twin Cities area. A marginal risk area for a lesser chance of severe weather covers a broad swath of Minnesota from the southwest corner to the Arrowhead and includes the entire Twin Cities area as well as northwestern Wisconsin.
More comfortable weather is coming
A cold front courtesy of our Canadian friends will drive southeastward across Minnesota on Monday. While it might kick off some thunderstorms along the I-90 corridor in southern Minnesota, it will also bring us two days of cooler, much less humid weather. Expect highs on Monday mainly in the 70s to low 80s. Tuesday might be a bit warmer.
Then another August warmup
Heat will begin building again on Wednesday and get cranked up for next weekend. Most of the week will be rain-free.
Tropical update
There is quite a string of tropical weather stretching across the eastern Pacific neaf Mexico to southeast of Hawaii. As you can see below, that area includes a tropical depression, two tropical disturbances likely to become tropical depressions and a hurricane.
Hurricane Hector is a category 3 storm forecast at this time to pass south of the Hawaiian Islands.
