Isolated showers, brief break from heat on Thursday in Twin Cities

MINNEAPOLIS — There is still plenty of rain and a few storms moving through the Mississippi River Valley on Thursday morning, and a few isolated showers and storms are on the wraparound in the Twin Cities.

Thursday's high temperature is 79 degrees. It will be humid, cloudy and mostly dry.  

Full sunshine returns to the metro on Friday and Saturday, allowing temps to return to near 90.  

We are trending to cooler air by the end of the weekend and early next week. Expect a few isolated storms, too. Sunday will clock in around the lower 80s. 

There is a possibility that we are in the mid-70s by midweek. Right now, we are trending towards a "cooler" week.

Storms wreak havoc across Minnesota

Around 9,000 families are in the dark across northern Minnesota after some powerful storms rolled across the state on Wednesday and early Thursday.

The Beltrami County Sheriff's office says it's dealing with hundreds of toppled trees. Emergency leaders say they knocked down several power lines in the Bemidji area.

In the Twin Cities, lightning caused a house fire in Cottage Grove. The fire department says the flames stayed in the attic and crews quickly put it out.

Massive hail also fell in parts of west-central Minnesota, including communities like Graceville and Donnelly.

So far, the overall cost of damage from the storms is not clear.

Rainfall totals

Much of the Twin Cities got less than an inch during the storms Wednesday and early Thursday. A NEXT Weather Watcher in Edina reported about three-quarters of an inch.

The south metro saw higher totals, with one NEXT Weather Watcher reporting 2 inches in Eagan.

Southern Minnesota saw the highest totals, with reports of at least 4.5 inches in Owatonna and Faribault. Cannon Falls got more than 3 inches.

In central Minnesota, Cold Spring saw nearly 2.5 inches, while Willmar and Dassel received about half of that.

Most of northern Minnesota saw less than half an inch of rain.