A quiet weather pattern will gradually end during the second half of the week, as a pair of storm systems emerge from the western U.S.  Over a 4- to 5-day period, both systems will cross the central Plains before reaching the Great Lakes States.  Five-day precipitation totals should reach 1 to 3 inches or more across large sections of the Plains, Midwest, and mid-South, with locally severe thunderstorms accompanying the rain.  However, significant rain will bypass a few areas, including key winter wheat production areas of the central and southern High Plains. 

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