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

MINNEAPOLIS — The rain north of the Twin Cities on Thursday morning will dissipate and exit east, though it'll take a bit longer for the clouds to clear.

The lack of sun will keep highs near 80 degrees, which is closer to normal.

High pressure moves in on Friday, bringing back sunshine to wrap up the week, and temps jump right back up near 90.

Saturday stays dry for most of the state, but a weak disturbance can throw a few showers and storms across northern Minnesota into the afternoon.

Some of those may drop closer to the metro on Saturday night, but it doesn't look to be anything to worry about.

Sunday largely looks quiet before another system throws more rain our way on Monday.

The bigger story on Sunday and beyond will be a cooldown with high temps eventually back in the 70s.

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.