An excessive heat warning has been issued for all of central and southern Minnesota through 10 p.m. Thursday, the National Weather Service says. It could get as hot as 102 on Thursday.

At least 16 were hospitalized Monday with heat-related illnesses, WCCO says.

Overnight thunderstorms and heavy winds around 3 a.m. Tuesday knocked down branches and provided the Twin Cities metro area with a brief break from the sweltering temperatures that are expected to last the entire week, the Star Tribune says.

The storm knocked out power to thousands, the Pioneer Press says.

Xcel Energy is prepared to handle the stress on the power grid, the company says, WCCO reports.

In other weather news, the Twin Cities Red, White and Boom Half Marathon on July 4 has been shortened to a 5-mile course due to dangerously high temperatures and humidity, WCCO reports.

It could be worse – you could work at Med-Tek, where workers heat-treat metals amid 117-degree temperatures, KARE 11 reports in a story about working in the heat.

Pity the livestock. Prolonged high temperatures and humidity really stress cattle, who can start to feel minor stress at just 77 degrees, the Worthington Daily Globe says.

If you plan to brave the sun this week, bring the SPF 30. WCCO examines whether the sun can actually "burn" our skin in its Good Question feature.

Is it ever going to cool off? A bit, this weekend, with a predicted high in the upper 80s, WCCO says: