Coolish August weather will continue, a bit unsettled at times

Temperatures that have been on the cooler-than-normal-for-August side will continue through Sunday and the upcoming week. High pressure from Canada will treat us to not only comfortable temperatures but also pleasant dew points mainly in the 50s.

Expect high temperatures across Minnesota Sunday afternoon mainly in the 70s with light winds. The Twin Cities should have a high around 77.

Some of the coolest afternoon temperatures, in the low 70s, are likely to be in southern Minnesota where thick clouds are likely to slow the usual solar heating.

Aug 6 - 8A vis sat
Visible satellite photo at 8 a.m. Sunday NOAA/University of Wisconsin-Madison

The Sunday morning forecast weather map indicates the main weather-maker in the country to be well to our south.

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Aug 6 - Sun sfc fcst map
Forecast surface weather map for Sunday. NOAA Weather Prediction Center

Strong and severe thunderstorms overnight in Oklahoma and northeastern Texas have been spreading across Arkansas. Very heavy rain from the slowly moving storms could cause flash flooding in that area today.

Aug 6 - ltng
Recent lightning strikes as of 8 a.m. Sunday. Vaisala Corp.

Scattered Sunday showers

Scattered showers were underway in parts of Minnesota early on Sunday. During the early morning they were mainly in west central Minnesota in the general Alexandria-Morris-Wheaton-Ortonville area and also widely scattered across the southern quarter of the state. All showers have been tracking to the southeast.

Augu 6 - radar 820a
Weather radar at 8:20 a.m. Sunday. Twin Cities National Weather Service

Additional showers and some isolated thunderstorms are likely to break out with the heating of the day, mainly across the southern half of Minnesota. Severe storms are not expected.

Sunny Monday

Skies should clear Sunday night and set the stage for patchy fog Monday morning. Any fog should give way to sunny skies and slightly warmer temperatures. Highs are likely to be mostly from the mid 70s to low 80s.

Forecast models indicate that pleasant weather with just some increasing clouds should hold for just about all of the state on Tuesday.

Unsettled weather returns Wednesday

The atmosphere is likely to become somewhat unsettled by Wednesday. Look for periods of showers and thunderstorms from Wednesday through at least Friday and probably into next weekend.

High temperatures during that extended forecast period are expected to be mainly in the 70s.

Forecast models of total precipitation over the upcoming week are giving parts of Minnesota the chance of picking up around an inch of rain. But by far the heaviest widespread rainfall is likely to be from eastern Colorado to Arkansas and east to North Carolina where many locations could receive in excess of five inches of rain.

Aug 6 - 7 day QPF
Forecast 7-day precipitation ending at 7 a.m. next Sunday. NOAA Climate Prediction Center