A summery Wednesday; steamy weather Friday and this weekend

If you care about "good sleeping weather" you'll want to get all the sleep that you can the next couple of nights. Anyone without air-conditioning will be dealing with steamy air later this week and this weekend.

Dew points creep up a bit on Wednesday, then they'll be in the sticky 60s across much of Minnesota plus western Wisconsin by late Thursday.  We're expecting dew points in the tropical lower 70s in about the southern two-thirds of Minnesota Friday afternoon and this weekend.

Temperature trends

The high temp at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport was 82 degrees Tuesday afternoon, matching our Twin Cities average high temp for June 25. Average feels pretty good this time of year, doesn't it?

Most of Minnesota plus western Wisconsin will have Wednesday afternoon highs in the 80s. A few spots in northeastern Minnesota could peak in the upper 70s. We're expecting highs mainly in the middle 80s in the Twin Cities metro area.

Thursday highs will be in the 80s in most areas:

Twin Cities metro area highs are projected to reach around 90 on Friday, followed by low-to-mid 90s this weekend.

We may have heat index values of 100 degrees or higher in parts of central and southern Minnesota this weekend.

Rain chances

Parts of northeastern Minnesota and northwestern Wisconsin will have some showers this Tuesday evening, with a few embedded thunderstorms also possible. The far northern part of the Twin Cities metro area and parts of west-central Wisconsin could see a passing Tuesday evening shower/thundershower too.

Southwestern Minnesota has a rain chance early Wednesday, then many areas could see some off and on showers and thunderstorms Wednesday night and Thursday.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s North American Mesoscale forecast model shows the potential rain pattern Wednesday through Thursday evening:

The color chart to the right of the loop refers to the strength of the signal that returns to the radar, not to the amount of rain. It’ll rain in some areas that look dry in the NAM, but the loop shows the general rain pattern within the model.

As always, updated weather information can be heard on the Minnesota Public Radio Network, and you’ll also see updated weather info on the MPR News live weather blog.

You can see the recent local NWS radar loop here.   The recent radar loop for southwestern Minnesota can be found here, and the southeastern Minnesota loop here.  The northeastern Minnesota radar loop and the northwestern Minnesota radar loop are also available.

Lightning safety

This is lightning safety awareness week. According to NOAA, the U.S. has averaged 51 lightning fatalities per year over the last 30s years. If you see lightning or hear thunder, get indoors. Don't wait until it starts raining at your location before you seek shelter. More from NOAA:

Most lightning victims are not struck during the worst of a thunderstorm but rather before or after the storm reaches its greatest intensity. This is because many people are unaware that lightning can strike as far as 25 miles away from its parent thunderstorm, much farther out from the area of rainfall within the storm!

Therefore, if you can hear thunder, you are within striking distance. Seek safe shelter immediately. Remember this lightning safety rule: WHEN THUNDER ROARS, GO INDOORS...and stay there until 30 minutes after the last clap of thunder. Do not wait for the rain to start before you decide to seek shelter, and do not leave shelter just because the rain has ended.

We'll have additional lightning safety tips this week.