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Summer heat set to return to the Plains and Midwest

Temperatures will begin to trend upward during the latter half of the week.

While many locales across the Plains and Midwest have embraced the refreshing air mass to ring in the month of August, Mother Nature will remind residents that summer is still here to stay for a while longer.

After observing high temperatures largely in the 70s in recent days in places like Minneapolis, Chicago, Indianapolis and many other Midwestern cities, temperatures will begin to trend upward during the latter half of the week.

The dip in the jet stream responsible for the refreshing air mass over the region will finally begin to shift eastward over the coming days, giving way to higher temperatures that will expand in a west-to-east fashion across the Plains and Midwest through late week. As a result, many cities can expect temperatures to climb around 10 degrees Fahrenheit by this weekend.

While the increase in temperatures may not be all that drastic, the increase in humidity across the Plains and Midwest will surely make the air feel noticeably more uncomfortable once again by this weekend.

Along with the increase in humidity across the region, chances for showers and thunderstorms will increase for some as a series of weak atmospheric disturbances track along the periphery of the heat over the coming days.

During the day on Wednesday, the first disturbance to bring along a threat for locally severe weather will track out of the central Rockies and bring a threat for feisty thunderstorms along the Front Range and High Plains. While thunderstorm coverage is expected to remain isolated in nature, the storms that do fire up will be capable of producing damaging wind gusts, hail and torrential downpours.

Showers and thunderstorms are also expected to extend into portions of the Midwest, possibly even for the Twin Cities in Minnesota. While a few storms may become strong during the afternoon, the ingredients for severe weather are somewhat lacking across the Midwest compared to the Front Range.

A similar atmospheric setup is expected on Thursday as well, with the Front Range and High Plains expected to face a threat for locally severe thunderstorms and the Midwest to expect more garden variety shower and thunderstorm activity.

Into the weekend, the jet stream pattern is expected to remain around the Canadian border, allowing the heat to encompass most of the Plains and Midwest. There will continue to be a threat of quick-hitting disturbances that ride along the jet stream, spelling a chance for wet weather across the northern tier of the nation.

Seasonably warm air along with near-average rainfall is expected to persist across much of the Midwest into next week as well.

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