Plenty of sunshine and much less humid on Monday; soaking rains for Thursday

The Twin Cities metro area and parts of southern Minnesota had several hours with dew point temperatures in the lower 70s on Sunday.

It felt a bit steamy.

Northwesterly winds spread comfortable dew points (in the 50s) over much of northern Minnesota by Sunday afternoon, and that drier air will reach the south late Sunday night or early on Monday.

Here's a snapshot of what dew point temps could look like early Monday afternoon:

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There's about half as much water in the air with a dew point of 50 degrees, compared to a dew point of 70 degrees.

Temperature trends

Highs in the 70s are expected Monday afternoon in about the northern half of Minnesota, with low to mid 80s in the south:

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And we'll enjoy a lot of sunshine too!

Tuesday will be another sun-splashed day, with comfortable dew points.

Twin Cities metro area highs should hit about 80 on Tuesday, followed by lower 80s on Wednesday.

Thursday will be the coolest day of the week, with highs in the mid to upper 70s, followed by around 80 on Friday

Our average Twin Cities high temp is 84 degrees this time of year.

Rain chances

Minnesota could see a few scattered showers and thunderstorms late on Wednesday.

Periods of rain, with a few embedded thunderstorms, are expected  Thursday and Thursday night.  We could see a few leftover showers on Friday.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Global Forecast System model shows the potential precipitation pattern from Wednesday morning through Thursday evening:

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NOAA GFS precipitation rate (mm/hour) Wednesday morning through Thursday evening, via tropicaltidbits

The color chart to the right of the loop refers to the precipitation rate (mm per hour), not to the total amount of rain.

Updated weather information can be heard on the Minnesota Public Radio Network, and updates are also posted on the MPR News live weather blog.

I hope that you have a good week!