Heat Tuesday, heavy rain Thursday for southern MN

Most of the thunderstorms in the country today have been breaking out across the eastern half of the country.

In Minnesota, some have popped over the arrowhead region and have been tracking southeast into northern Wisconsin and Upper Michigan. A few recent thunderstorms have broken out in far northwestern Minnesota.

The west is getting fewer storms than on a usual summer afternoon, but New Mexico is lighting up nicely.

While there have been some towering cumulus clouds trying to become showers or small thunderstorms, the sky also has had a distinctly hazy appearance. The culprit seems to be Canadian wildfires.

Visible satellite weather photos show this elevated plume of smoky haze coming our way from the northwest.

Temperatures will really heat up on Tuesday and turn it into the hottest day so far this summer. Forecast highs range from the 70s in the northeast to the 80s over most of the state and some low 90s in the southwest.

The Twin Cities should flirt with its first 90-degree temperature of the year.

The hot weather, coupled with an increase in dew point, will set the stage for a cold front to kick off some strong storms later on Tuesday. Some of these storms might become severe, most likely in northeastern Minnesota.

Wednesday will be a lovely June day with less-toasty temperatures, but the atmosphere does not rest for long. A new low pressure center will fire up over the Great Plains. The cold front that had slid across Minnesota with comfortable temperatures will come to a halt.

By Thursday, moisture, instability and lift will surge north of the stalled frontal boundary to trigger widespread heavy rain over much of the southern half of Minnesota and then into Wisconsin on Thursday and Thursday night.

Amounts of rainfall are difficult to forecast, but this type of weather system is likely to produce lengthy periods of rain, some of it heavy. Some rainfalls in excess of 2 inches are likely.