A quiet summer day

Mother Nature will deliver a nice day in our neck of the woods, as sunshine mixes with clouds today. High temperatures are forecast to be seasonal.

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Monday's showers and thunderstorms dumped some welcome rainfall on Duluth, where annual precipitation stands at 9.26 inches.  The 1.5 inches of rain measured at the Duluth Airport on Monday still leaves the area more than 2.5 inches below normal for 2015.

Excessive rains fell in south-central Minnesota early Monday morning.

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Precipitation totals from Sunday night to 7 a.m. CDT on Monday. Image:Midwest Regional Climate Center

Additional rain fell in the Arrowhead region of the state Monday afternoon.

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From the Target Field weather lab, I viewed this amazing visible satellite image of the large thunderstorm complex that redeveloped in the heat of the day on Monday. Note the overshooting cloud tops as the indication of the strongest thunderstorm cells.

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Visible satellite from Monday late afternoon. Image:NOAA/College of Dupage

Rainfall amounts have been sufficient for crops this early summer. Some locations may be getting a little too moist. Sunshine and warm temperatures will accelerate growth. Corn is likely to be well past "knee-high by the Fourth of July."

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Precipitation departure for the past thirty days, not including Monday. Image: Midwest Regional Climate Center

Seasonal temperatures and bouts of showers and thundershowers are expected through the week. The best chance for rain appears to be over northern Minnesota and to our south.

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Potential rainfall through Thursday night. Image:Weather Prediction Center

The National Weather Service in La Crosse, Wis., prepared a nice summary of yesterday's strong thunderstorms. You can review it here.

Chances for severe thunderstorms are expected to be confined to regions south of Minnesota this week.

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We haven't talked much about the impacts of the afternoon sunshine, but with the long daylight hours, we need to consider the intensity of the summer sun.  Here's your UV index for today. For more on the ultraviolet index, you can check out the website of the Environmental Protection Agency.

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Last week the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Climate Prediction Center released its monthly outlook for July. Its assessment should not much change from how our meteorological summer has begun. Periods of showers and thunderstorms in the central U.S. are likely to keep temperatures below normal.

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Some of my associates remind me that my accuracy for forecasting precipitation events drops off after three days, so I'll not try and lay out the details for shower and thunderstorm chances for the weekend!