Sunny, warm, dry week on its way

Persistent torrential rain soaked a large area of south-central Minnesota on Saturday evening and overnight. Based on rain gauge readings and radar estimates, approximately 5 to 10 inches of rain fell in an area from around Morton and Winthrop southeast through Mankato and Waseca. St. Peter picked up 8.5 inches of rain. Numerous roads in the area were flooded.

Lingering showers

Thanks to Sunday afternoon heating, a short line of showers and thunderstorms has formed from near North Branch, Minn., to Luck and Frederic, Wis., and are moving to the southeast. A few isolated showers have also popped in Anoka County in the north metro.

Humidity relief coming from the northwest

Canada is sending a huge chunk of dry air our way. Dew points in northwestern Minnesota have dropped down through the 50s on Sunday. That dry air with seasonal temperatures will cover the whole state on Monday and hang around all week.

High temperatures will be mainly from the mid 70s in northern Minnesota to the low 80s in the Twin Cities and southern Minnesota for Monday and probably all of the upcoming week. Expect lots of dew points in the comfortable 50s. Dew points might reach into the low 60s across the south but that’s a far cry from recent sultry values well into the 70s.

Skimpy chances of rain

Dry high pressure over the Upper Midwest will steer showers and storms away from our area for most of the coming week. Some scattered showers are possible Monday afternoon in the Arrowhead, mainly near the Boundary Waters.

The next decent chance of showers is likely to hold off until scatterings of showers might break out next Saturday and/or Sunday.

Hurricane Douglas scraping Hawaii

Hurricane Douglas with maximum sustained winds of 85 mph has been passing just north of the Hawaiian Islands on Sunday. Heavy rains have been grazing Maui and Molokai as the storm tracks generally toward Oahu. Honolulu is likely to get heavy rain later on Sunday.