ANOTHER SHORT BREAK...

The Midwest can use a break from the heat, the humidity and the rain. It is summer so the break isn't going to last long, but hopefully long enough for recovery from the heavy rain and flooding. First I wanted to share this graphic the folks at the National Weather Service in Des Moines put together about the heat this past week -

Several hours were spent with tropical dew points well above 70 and even above 80 degrees! Des Moines hit 100 degrees with the actual temperature for the first time since 2013. We're not going to get into intense heat again this week, but humidity will be present once again. Let's talk about the calm first.

Dry air has moved in (evident by the darker colors on water vapor imagery above) and made Sunday much more pleasant than the six days prior. The quiet and comfortable weather will continue through Tuesday as high pressure remains in control. Here are the high temperatures expected the next two days - pretty seasonal.

High pressure will be centered near the Great Lakes and the heat is clearly not too far away - even creeping back into western Iowa and Minnesota by Tuesday afternoon.

Moisture will be on the move with humidity increasing through the day on Tuesday. A storm system will move through the Upper Midwest Tuesday night through Thursday. There are still uncertainties on the track and intensity of the system, though. The Storm Prediction Center is already monitoring parts of the Midwest for strong storms Tuesday and Wednesday.

Some storms could be strong - but as I mentioned there is still some uncertainty surrounding how the situation unfolds. You can see the uncertainty in the differences of rainfall totals between the GFS and European over the next five days -

Enjoy the quieter times because the humidity and storms will return.

RK