Periods of heavy rain possible later in the week

 

Following what was a very active holiday weekend with several days of severe weather and heavy rainfall, high pressure over the Great Lakes has kept our skies clear Monday afternoon. It's also taken away some of the humidity with temperatures in the low 80s area wide. High pressure will remain put over the Great Lakes the next couple of days helping to keep skies clear and temperatures warming through the middle to upper 80s. By the middle of the week, though, you may notice a slight increase in humidity.

If we scan the skies further northwest across the Plains, you'll see a line of thunderstorms developing from northwest Minnesota, southwest into western Nebraska. These are along a cold front that'll eventually move in our direction later in the week. The chance for showers and thunderstorms will gradually increase by the middle to end of the week. The severe chance looks to be on the lower end thanks to overall weaker forcing in the atmosphere, but the slow-moving boundary could lead to periods of heavier rainfall beginning Wednesday night and lasting through Friday night.

Thunderstorms will be likely to our north during the afternoon Wednesday as a cold front moves through Wisconsin. Locally, our skies will remain dry through most of the day. Temperatures will warm into the mid, perhaps even upper, 80s. By Wednesday night, the front will be moving towards southern Wisconsin where it'll start to slow down a bit, stalling near the state line through Thursday. With an increase in moisture along and ahead of the front heavy rainfall will be possible during that time. While likely not as much as the rain some experienced over this past weekend totals reaching close to half an inch, up to an inch, are possible. The best chance for rain appears to be Wednesday night into Thursday, and then possibly again Friday into Friday night. But the Friday rain chance (and how much rain we see) will depend on whether or not we see an area of low pressure move through. Some of our forecast models are suggesting one will develop, while some are not. If we do not see the low, then rainfall totals may not be quite as high.