Delightful Tuesday; showers, storms Wednesday and Thursday

Clear skies overnight treated us to a great view of a gorgeous full moon. On the other side of the sky, Venus has been the very bright morning planet in the east late at night.

If you missed that full moon, tonight will give you another opportunity. The 99-percent gibbous moon will rise at 9:07 p.m. in the Twin Cities, more than a half hour after sunset. Personally, I think that in the summer the first moonrise after the full moon is especially lovely as it rises after dark and has that slightly off-round man-in-the-moon look.

Sunny, warm Tuesday

Tuesday will be our continuing reward for enduring November through March. Expect mostly sunny skies across most of the state but some scattered showers near Canada around International Falls, Ely and the Boundary Waters. A few showers already have been sneaking in from Canada this morning.

Afternoon high temperatures should range from the mid 70s near those showers to the low 80s farther south. The Twin Cities should reach about 84 with a light southwest wind.

Unsettled weather on its way

We will be stirring the weather pot tomorrow. Showers and thunderstorms will break out across the Dakotas Wednesday morning and then build as they track eastward across Minnesota during the afternoon. Most thunderstorms will be just garden variety, but a marginal risk of severe weather has been posted for part of the western edge of Minnesota for Wednesday afternoon and evening.

While Wednesday is likely to be our wettest day this week, numerous showers and a few thunderstorms will linger into Thursday, mainly for northern and eastern Minnesota.

Friday through Sunday

The last three days of this week should be mostly dry with just a few pop-up showers each afternoon. High temperatures will be mainly in the comfortable 70s with  unseasonably-low dew points.

Elsewhere, flooding in the Houston, Texas, area

The Houston area was struck with significant flooding from thunderstorms yesterday. Preliminary reports are of mainly 4 to 6 inches of rain with some spots possibly receiving up to 8 inches. Houston's International Airport, well north of downtown, has measured 5.8 inches of rain since early Monday. This morning the rain has moved off to the northeast and floodwaters are receding slowly.

Tropical Storm Franklin update

Franklin struck Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula south of Cancun overnight. Maximum sustained winds have weakened to 45 mph as it moved overland.

Franklin is quite unlikely to turn north toward the United States. The current forecast is for Franklin to track generally westward across the Bay of Campeche tomorrow. Some restrengthening is likely before Franklin then strikes Mexico again with strong wind and very heavy rain on Thursday.