More severe weather to target storm-weary areas of the U.S.

It's been a rather stormy summer thus far for portions of the Plains and Midwest. Much to the chagrin of those in the area wishing for a stretch of dry days, AccuWeather meteorologists say rounds of potent storms will persist early this week.

Feisty thunderstorms fired up across portions of Wyoming, Colorado and Nebraska, on Sunday and unleashed widespread damaging hail and gusty winds. Hail was the biggest threat with Sunday's storms, as large hail buffeted much of the area, including softball-sized hail in Wyoming's Niobrara County.

Potent storms will fire up across a much larger swath of the Plains on Monday.

"The best chance for severe storms will be focused near an approaching cold front Monday afternoon across the northern Plains," AccuWeather Meteorologist Matt Benz said.

The bulk of severe thunderstorms will likely initiate from far western North Dakota and northwestern South Dakota, Monday afternoon, and push southeastward across the Dakotas and into Nebraska, by the evening hours.

Storms across the area will be able to produce damaging wind gusts, hail, flooding downpours and even an isolated tornado or two. An AccuWeather Local StormMax™ of 70 mph is possible with the strongest storms.

Both Bismarck, North Dakota, and Rapid City, South Dakota, may be in the path of these damaging storms on Monday.

CLICK HERE FOR THE FREE ACCUWEATHER APP

"Strong, daytime heating may also touch off a severe storm or two across the high plains of northeastern Colorado into Nebraska, Monday afternoon," Benz added. "Storms here should start off as discrete cells, but may coalesce into a line of storms capable of producing damaging wind gusts."

The bull's-eye for disruptive storms will shift eastward into the Midwest on Tuesday as an area of low pressure and associated warm front set up shop over the region.

Showers and thunderstorms will drench a large swath of the Midwest, including portions of Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana and Michigan.

The main threat with storms that develop on Tuesday will be periods of heavy rain that can lead to flash flooding issues for some. Low-lying and poor-drainage areas will be the most susceptible to flooding issues on Tuesday. However, anyone caught under a torrential downpour will have to exercise extreme caution, including motorists on interstates 80, 90 and 94.

Overall, storm activity is expected to be more disorganized on Tuesday than what develops on Monday. However, a few overachieving thunderstorms Tuesday can become better organized and threaten portions of the Midwest with locally damaging wind gusts and some hail.

One of the reasons explosive storms will be more of a rarity on Tuesday as opposed to Monday is due to a lack of widespread instability in the atmosphere over portions of the Midwest. Truly explosive storms need a combination of atmospheric factors, including moisture and heat, to come together in order to develop.

The likeliest area for a few feisty storms to organize on Tuesday will include portions of Minnesota and western Wisconsin.

This storm system will shift eastward into southern Ontario, Canada, for Wednesday. Storm-weary areas across the Plains and Midwest will be able to catch a brief reprieve from stormy weather Wednesday before the threat ramps up again for Thursday.

Keep checking back on AccuWeather.com and stay tuned to the AccuWeather Network on DirecTV, Frontier and Verizon Fios.