Warmer, increasingly humid Monday and Tuesday; periods of rain likely this week

Widely scattered thunderstorms dampened parts of Minnesota Sunday night. My rain gauge measured a paltry 0.09 inches of rain. But every bit helps.

Two days of heat, humidity

Monday will be warmer than our delightful weekend weather. Expect afternoon high temperatures from the upper 70s in northwest portions to the upper 80s in the Twin Cities area and the southeast.

The Twin Cities should warm to about 88 with sunshine, a bit more humidity and a light southwest breeze.

Tuesday will be quite warm again with those same high temperatures from the upper 70s northwest to the upper 80s southeast. The mugginess factor will continue to climb. The dew point in the Twin Cities could easily climb into the tropical low 70s.

Scattered thunderstorms likely

Widely scattered thunderstorms are likely Monday night, Tuesday and Tuesday night into Wednesday morning.

There is a marginal risk for severe weather for mainly central and southern Minnesota for the 24-hour period ending at 7 a.m. on Tuesday.

The marginal risk will continue for the subsequent 24 hours ending at 7 a.m. on Wednesday. It will shift eastward to encompass most of Minnesota, Wisconsin and Iowa.

Temperatures and dew points will back off a notch on Wednesday and for the remainder of the week, but it will still feel like August.

Welcome rain later this week

A series of disturbances later in the week might bring enough rain to help diminish our severe drought.

Rain could become more widespread across large parts of the state at times from Thursday through the weekend. The seven-day precipitation outlook indicates that some areas could pick up 2 or more inches of rain by next Monday morning.