Damaging thunderstorms to threaten midwestern US into Tuesday
Residents with outdoor plans will have to remain on alert as severe weather will take aim at parts of the midwestern United States into Tuesday.
Following the severe weather to end the weekend, a line of potentially damaging thunderstorms is expected to sweep across the Upper Midwest into Monday night.
The thunderstorms will threaten areas from Minnesota and northern Iowa to northern Michigan. This includes Minneapolis, Duluth and Rochester, Minnesota; La Crosse, Green Bay and Wausau, Wisconsin; and Marquette, Michigan.
Some of the same communities cleaning up from Sunday's severe weather will be targeted again.
Anyone planning to spend time outdoors, including those at the Minnesota State Fair near the Twin Cities, should download the free AccuWeather app and enable audible alerts on cell phones. That is a great way to receive severe weather bulletins as they are issued to know when to seek shelter.
Even in the absence of severe weather, as soon as thunder is heard, the risk of being struck by lightning is present.
The strongest thunderstorms will be capable of producing damaging winds, hail and flash flooding.
Wind gusts as high was 82 mph were reported across southern Minnesota and Wisconsin on Monday evening as a line of severe storms blasted across the region.
"There can be a few tornadoes when the thunderstorms initially erupt," according to AccuWeather Meteorologist Isaac Longley. "Damaging winds and flooding rain will be the primary threats overnight."
Travel conditions can become hazardous when the storms cross sections of interstates 35, 90 and 94. Strong wind gusts can overturn high-profile vehicles, while downpours may dramatically reduce visibility and heighten the risk of vehicles hydroplaning when traveling at highway speeds.
In the wake of Monday’s severe weather, cooler and less humid air will cause Tuesday to feel more like early fall over most of the Dakotas and Minnesota, with highs mainly in the 60s expected. Temperatures may even stop short of reaching 60 F in northern Minnesota.
Humidity will lower by the end of Tuesday at the Minnesota State Fair.
On the other hand, it will remain a steam bath in St. Louis, Chicago, Detroit and Cincinnati on Tuesday.
The clash of this heat and humidity with the advancing cooler air will yet again fuel severe thunderstorms from Michigan to Iowa and northern Missouri.
Cities from Traverse City, Michigan, and Green Bay, Wisconsin, to Des Moines, Iowa, and Kansas City, Missouri, will be targeted by the thunderstorms that can unleash damaging winds and flooding downpours. Similar to Monday, there can be a few tornadoes late in the day.
The risk for flooding will be especially high across Wisconsin and Michigan following repeated rounds of downpours.
The thunderstorms may threaten Chicago before the end of the game between the New York Mets and Chicago Cubs and Wrigley Field on Tuesday evening.
The thunderstorms may press into the eastern Great Lakes and Ohio Valley at midweek with comfortable air sweeping over more of the North Central states.
However, the arrival of the cooler air is not a sign of summer ending. Warmth and humidity can quickly rebound back across the region late in the week and into Labor Day weekend.
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