Record rainfall; preparing for the heat

Very heavy rainfall from Friday evening through Saturday morning drenched and flooded parts of  Minnesota. Rainfall totals approached 5 inches in Eden Prairie.

From the National Weather Service in Chanhassen:

A RECORD RAINFALL OF 2.79 INCHES WAS SET AT TWIN CITIES MN

YESTERDAY...JULY 13. THIS BREAKS THE OLD RECORD OF 2.03 INCHES SET IN 1919.

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Friday night rain
Rainfall ending 7 a.m. CDT Saturday morning. Source:NOAA

Waskish, near Upper Red Lake in northern Minnesota, picked up 2.25 inches of rain Friday evening.

A severe thunderstorm produced considerable wind damage in Thief River Falls on Friday evening.  Here's the report of the damage from the National Weather Service in Grand Forks.

The vast majority of the damage was to trees. Winds were estimated at 60 to 80 mph.

The recent rainfalls have erased the drought in Minnesota and the weekend rains likely took a large bite out of the deficit that remained in north central Minnesota.

Drougth Status

A narrow band of showers was associated with a stationary front through central Minnesota this morning.

Radar from Duluth
Screen capture of rain around 630 a.m. CDT. Source:NOAA/Wunderground.com

An infrared satellite image from 5:30 a.m. showed the cloud band associated with the rain from Alexandria to Grand Marais.

IR satellite image Monday morning
IR Satellite from 530 a.m. CDT. Source:NOAA/Intellicast

Portions of Texas were being hammered with heavy rain this morning.

Hot weather weather will be a major concern for a large part of the country this week. Already this morning a heat advisory has been issued for the area around New York City, home of the All-Star Game Tuesday night.

Temperatures in southern Minnesota will approach 90 this afternoon with dew points in the 60s. A cloud cover will hold down the mercury somewhat in northern Minnesota.

Highs for Monday
Maximum temperatures for today.

Very warm and humid conditions are expected to blanket the state on Tuesday through Thursday. Heat Index values are likely to climb close to 100 degrees during the afternoon hours.

Heat Index Table
From the National Weather Service

IMPORTANT: Since heat index values were devised for shady, light wind conditions, exposure to full sunshine can increase heat index values by up to 15 degrees. Also, strong winds, particularly with very hot, dry air, can be extremely hazardous.

A cool front is forecast to slip southward through the Great Lakes later in the week and sweep clean the sultry air in our neck of the woods. Thursday afternoon will likely be the most uncomfortable period of the week.

NAM 4pm Thursday
NAM forecast for 4 p.m. CDT on Thursday. Surface temperatures, pressure pattern and winds. Source:NOAA/College of DuPage

NOAA's long range forecast for early next week, indicates a return to near or slightly below normal temperatures.  Normal high/low for the Twin Cities on July 22 is 84/64.

Six to ten day outlook
Six to ten day temperature outlook.