Warmer, Still Sunny Tuesday - Rain Chance Late In The Week

While southern Minnesota saw rainfall Sunday morning, another batch of rain moved across the state late in the day into the overnight hours, bringing ~0.25"-0.75" of rain across parts of the southern half of the state (and lower totals northward).

Officially 0.77" of rain fell at MSP, making Sunday the fifth wettest day of this year so far. Meanwhile, Sioux Falls saw 5.44" of rain on Sunday, marking their wettest day ever recorded (the previous was 4.59" back on August 1, 1975).

The weekend rainfall was the second wettest two-day period so far this year - the wettest was May 11-12 when 1.98" fell. This was certainly much-needed rainfall across the region, and hopefully it will have helped to make at least a little dent in the drought situation. While my yard is happy with the rainfall, I'm honestly not looking forward to having to mow it soon!

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No rain in the forecast Tuesday - just another mainly sunny day with warmer temperatures making a return. Morning lows will be around 60F with highs climbing into the mid-80s.

I don't think I can rule out some fog in some spots to begin your Tuesday, but sunny skies will dominate the day statewide. The best chance of a passing cloud might be across northern parts of Minnesota. Highs will mostly be in the 80s across Minnesota and western Wisconsin, with some 70s possible along northern parts of the North Shore (up toward Grand Marais) and in the Driftless Region of southeastern Minnesota.

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Million Dollar Rain Came At The Right Time
By Paul Douglas

Celebrate the small wins, right? Like most Minnesotans I enjoyed our weekend soaking and the 1-3" of much-needed rain that fell on an area struggling with moderate to severe drought.

Summer rainfall patterns are notoriously fickle, the result of pop-up thunderstorms that can drench one town, while leaving another town 10 miles down the road dry and dusty. "Paul, the storms always SPLIT before reaching the metro!" People get indignant when it doesn't rain at their house, especially during drought. Fall and spring rains tend to be more "stratiform", with rainfall more evenly distributed. But during the summer we're always playing the Rainfall Lotto, with winners and losers.

A beautiful week is shaping up with a string of 80s and no weather-drama to speak of. The next welcome wave of T-storms may arrive Friday, again next Monday, with enough warm sunshine for a fine weekend of outdoor activities. No suffocating heat in sight.

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Paul's Extended Twin Cities Forecast

TUESDAY: Sunny and warm. Wake up 60. High 85. Chance of precipitation 0%. Wind SW 8-13 mph.

WEDNESDAY: Plenty of sunshine. Wake up 67. High 87. Chance of precipitation 0%. Wind W 5-10 mph.

THURSDAY: Some sun, thunder southwest MN. Wake up 65. High 83. Chance of precipitation 20%. Wind SE 5-10 mph.

SATURDAY: Warm sunshine. Wake up 67. High 85. Chance of precipitation 10%. Wind NE 5-10 mph.

SUNDAY: Generally sunny and warm. Wake up 68. High 84. Chance of precipitation 20%. Wind E 5-10 mph.

MONDAY: Ripe for showers and T-storms. Wake up 69. High 79. Chance of precipitation 60%. Wind SE 8-13 mph.

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Minneapolis Weather Almanac And Sun Data
August 9th

*When Do We Drop Below 14 Hours Of Daylight?: August 17 (13 hours, 58 minutes, 36 seconds)
*When Does The Sun Start Rising At/After 7 AM?: September 22nd (7:00 AM)
*When Does The Sun Start Setting At/Before 8 PM?: August 26th (8:00 PM)

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This Day in Weather History
August 9th

1948: 7.72 inches of rain falls at Mankato.

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Some areas of heavier rain will be possible through the middle of the week from the Deep South into the Northeast and in parts of the Southwest due to the monsoonal storms. In some areas, particularly in New England, some rainfall totals could generally approach three inches. If you end up under heavy or training storms rainfall amounts could be heavier.

Meanwhile, we haven't talked a lot about the Atlantic recently as it has been fairly quiet over the past month or so. That could change later this week, however, as a tropical wave in the eastern Atlantic has a medium chance to become a tropical depression as it moves westward.

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U.S. Senate passes historic climate bill

More from Grist: "The Senate passed the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 on Sunday, a $433 billion climate, energy, health, and tax bill that will set the United States on course to reduce its cumulative emissions roughly 40 percent, compared to 2005 levels, by 2030. Fifty Democratic senators voted for the bill, including centrists Joe Manchin, from West Virginia, and Kyrsten Sinema, from Arizona. Republican senators unilaterally opposed the legislation. Vice President Kamala Harris cast the tie-breaking vote. In a statement, President Joe Biden said that the bill "makes the largest investment ever in combating the existential crisis of climate change.""

More form E&E News: "As difficult as passing the "Inflation Reduction Act" was, the road ahead stands to be more challenging. New transmission lines will need to be strung to connect wind and solar projects in disparate parts of the country. Batteries need to be installed to backup renewable projects. Emerging technologies like clean hydrogen and advanced nuclear, along with seldom-used ones like carbon capture and sequestration, have to be installed to ensure the grid can run round-the-clock without pumping greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. And that's just in the power sector. Cleaning up transportation and industry will likely be even more challenging, due to relatively limited technological options and the long lifetimes associated with cars and large industrial equipment."

'Very critical situation': Almost half of EU countries suffering from drought

More from Sky News: "Almost half of European Union land is currently under a drought warning or more severe "alert" level, hampering agriculture, energy production and water supply, the European Commission has confirmed. From France in the west and Romania in the east, to western Germany and southern Greece, a "wide and persistent" lack of rain, combined with heatwaves, makes for an alarmingly long list of countries where drought is getting worse. New data from the European Drought Observatory (EDO) shows some 45% of the bloc's territory under "warning" conditions, the second of three drought categories, during the 10 days leading to 20 July."

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Thanks for checking in and have a great day! Don't forget to follow me on Twitter (@dkayserwx) and like me on Facebook (Meteorologist D.J. Kayser).