A tornado watch remains in effect for Minneapolis, St. Paul and parts of eastern Minnesota and western Wisconsin until 9 p.m. CDT Wednesday after storms inside the watch area prompted two tornado warnings.
The National Weather Service in the Twin Cities issued the first warning at 4:53 p.m. CDT for parts of Dakota and Goodhue counties in Minnesota and Pierce County in Wisconsin after radar showed rotation in a storm near Stanton, northeast of Northfield. The NWS tracked the storm east past Cannon Falls toward Welch and Red Wing, and at one point said it could produce baseball-size hail.
At 5:11 p.m., the NWS office in Duluth issued a second tornado warning for southern Pine County in Minnesota and Burnett County in Wisconsin. That storm moved northeast at 50 mph through Grantsburg and Webster.
Both warnings have since expired. The Storm Prediction Center’s preliminary storm reports include one tornado report, at 5:40 p.m. CDT about 3 miles southeast of Danbury in Burnett County, Wisconsin. According to the report from the NWS office in Duluth, a weak, brief rotation on the ground kicked up small branches, leaves and water as it passed over Love Lake, with no damage reported as of then.
What Forecasters Expect
The SPC lists three main threats for the watch area: a couple of tornadoes, scattered hail up to 1.5 inches across, and isolated wind gusts up to 70 mph.
The storms were expected to keep getting stronger through the afternoon while moving quickly to the northeast, according to the watch. Forecasters wrote that the tornado and hail risk depends on whether “a supercell or two can be sustained,” and that smaller clusters of storms could also bring damaging winds into the early evening.
On the watch probabilities page, the SPC rates the odds of tornadoes, severe wind and severe hail as moderate. The odds of a strong tornado, rated EF2 or higher, are listed as low.
Warnings Already Issued
Several storms inside the watch area had already triggered severe thunderstorm warnings by 4 p.m. CDT.
The NWS office in the Twin Cities warned of a storm over Mora, about 25 miles north of Cambridge, moving northeast at 40 mph with quarter-size hail. The NWS office in Duluth said the same storm could drop half-dollar-size hail on central Pine County.
South of the metro, a storm about 6 miles southeast of Le Center was moving northeast at 40 mph with 60 mph gusts and quarter-size hail, putting parts of Le Sueur and Rice counties under a warning until 4:30 p.m.
Near St. Cloud, forecasters were tracking a strong storm over Sartell with gusts up to 50 mph and half-inch hail.
Counties Still Under the Watch
The NWS trimmed the watch at about 6:10 p.m. CDT. It still covers:
Minnesota: Anoka, Chisago, Dakota, Goodhue, Hennepin, Ramsey, Rice, Scott and Washington.
Wisconsin: Barron, Burnett, Chippewa, Dunn, Eau Claire, Pepin, Pierce, Polk, Rusk, Sawyer, St. Croix and Washburn.
That puts cities like Blaine, Shakopee, Stillwater, Hastings, Red Wing and Faribault inside the watch, along with Eau Claire, Chippewa Falls, Hudson, Menomonie and River Falls on the Wisconsin side.
Watch vs. Warning
A watch doesn’t mean a tornado is coming. It means conditions are right for tornadoes and severe storms to develop, and people in the area should keep an eye on the sky and on local alerts.
A tornado warning is the one to act on. It’s issued when a tornado has been spotted or shows up on radar, and anyone in the warned area should get to shelter right away.
The latest watches and warnings for the region are posted on weather.gov and by the NWS offices in the Twin Cities and Duluth.
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