Isolated thunderstorm, improving air quality Monday; hot all week
Hottest temps of the summer this week
Southerly winds should improve air quality slowly through the day Monday. It’ll be hot with highs near 90 south and west. An isolated thunderstorm is possible later in the day.
Hot with isolated thunder Monday
We have a couple isolated thundershowers early Monday in southern Minnesota as warmer air pushes into Minnesota. There’s a chance of a couple more storms popping up late Monday with daytime heating.
Warmer air aloft may cap the atmosphere, however, making it too stable for widespread storms.
Any storms that do develop could produce some large hail or an isolated wind gust. There’s a marginal risk (level 1 of 5) of severe weather for late Monday afternoon and evening.
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We also have smoke in the skies again, but that should improve through the day. An air quality alert remains through 6 p.m. for central and northern Minnesota.
Southerly winds will slowly push in better air quality from south to north through the day.
Check the latest air quality conditions and forecasts from the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency:
Hottest temps of this summer this week
The biggest weather story of all this week will be the heat. A heat wave will bring highs of 90 degrees or hotter each day this week for most of southern and western Minnesota. Highs on Monday will be just near 90 with low 80s northeast.
The one saving grace this week, is that dew points may not get into the oppressively humid 70s, at least not for extended periods, which would keep the heat index lower than it would otherwise be.
Still, the heat index will likely be between 100 and 105 Wednesday and Thursday across southern Minnesota, just below the excessive heat definition.
Those peak high temperatures are likely to be in the upper 90s Wednesday and Thursday with the chance that some places could hit 100.
Slightly cooler air arrives for the weekend, but we’ll still be well into the 80s for most.
There are isolated thunder chances on and off during the week, especially late in the evenings or overnights but forecasting them will be a challenge with overall stable conditions and weak forcing. Overall, the drought will worsen for most of Minnesota.