A coolish Monday; warm Wednesday through Friday with thunderstorms at times
It was a bright and pleasant Sunday for most of Minnesota, including the Twin Cities metro area.
Some pesky clouds lingered through the afternoon in far southern Minnesota.
The air was pleasantly dry, but humid air will spread into Minnesota on Wednesday.
Temperature trends
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Monday will be the coolest day this week, with highs in the 60s in southern and central Minnesota:
Most spots in the northern third of Minnesota should reach the 70s.
Highs in the 70s will be common statewide on Tuesday, with a few spots in the southwest reaching 80:
Many areas reach the lower 80s Wednesday afternoon:
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Dew point temperatures in the upper 50s to lower 60s are a good bet in much of central and southern Minnesota from Wednesday afternoon through Friday, so it'll feel very summery.
Twin Cities metro area high temps are expected to rise from the upper 70s on Tuesday to the lower 80s on Wednesday, followed by mid 80s Thursday and Friday.
Rain opportunities
A few scattered showers are possible in central and southern Minnesota Monday and Monday night.
The atmosphere will be unsettled across most of Minnesota from Wednesday through Friday, with some showers and thunderstorms at times.
The first batch of thunderstorms could arrive on Wednesday.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Global Forecast System model shows the potential precipitation pattern Wednesday through Friday:
The color chart to the right of the loop refers to the precipitation rate (mm per hour), not to the total amount of rain.
Smart lawn watering
Most of us will get a free lawn watering this week.
It's good to remember that lawns are resilient, and they develop a deeper root system if they are watered sparingly.
Many lawns are over-watered:
According to MPR's Cody Nelson:
If you live in the Twin Cities metro, you're probably over-watering your lawn.
More than 60 percent of metro residents with irrigation systems are using far more water than they need, according to a recent University of Minnesota Extension survey.
Most home irrigation systems are in the Minneapolis and St. Paul suburbs, and most of those systems aren't working properly, the survey of more than 900 residents found.
For example: 75 percent of systems had at least one leaking sprinkler head.
Many systems just weren't watering how they should. Homes surveyed were watering, on average, 500 square feet of impervious surfaces like streets or sidewalks. Sprinklers often run too often, or when unnecessary like after a rain.
Cody notes that:
Lawns need about an inch of water each week, according to Sam Bauer, a turf grass specialist at the U.
Of course, that one inch per week includes rainfall. Many spots in Minnesota will probably see an inch or more of rain between Wednesday and late Friday, so lawn watering may not be needed this week.
Programming note
You can hear my live weather updates on Minnesota Public Radio at 7:49 a.m. Thursdays and Fridays, and at 7:35 a.m., 9:35 a.m. and 4:35 p.m. each Saturday and Sunday.