Severe thunderstorms bring street flooding, tree damage, power outages to Twin Cities

Pioneer Press
·2 min read

A line of intense thunderstorms rolled across southern Minnesota on Wednesday night, causing wind damage, localized flooding and power failures across the Twin Cities.

The storm reached the westernmost suburbs about 7 p.m. with winds gusting up to 67 mph near Eden Prairie, according to Paige Marten, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Chanhassen.

Although some unconfirmed tornado reports were received from southwestern Minnesota, none were reported in the Twin Cities, Marten said. The NWS canceled the last tornado warnings for the metro shortly area before 9 p.m. No damage from the southwestern Minnesota tornado sightings was immediately reported.

The storm brought damaging winds to Hennepin, Ramsey and other metro counties, with downed trees and power outages widely reported. There were no immediate reports of injuries.

A 77-mph gust was logged in Shakopee, while the doors of a Target store in Roseville were blown out.

Nearly 83,000 utility customers were without power as of 10 p.m. That included 74,000 Xcel Energy customers, mostly in the Twin Cities.

In addition to the wind, the storm dumped torrential rain and large hailstones — some up to 2 inches — on the metro. Several areas reported flooded roads and underground parking facilities. Nearly 2 inches of rain was officially recorded at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport.

On Thursday morning, the NWS reported that due to the storms that moved over the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport on Wednesday night, a new daily precipitation record was set for the Twin Cities: 1.94 inches of rain fell, breaking the previous daily precipitation record of 1.55 inches that was set in 1935

Although the worst of the storm had moved on into western Wisconsin by about 9 p.m. Wednesday, the Twin Cities are bracing for a second night of possible storms Thursday.

Thursday is expected to dawn mostly sunny, with daytime temperatures likely reaching the low 90s with high humidity.

“It will feel like a hot summer day,” Marten said.

A cold front is expected to roll in from the Dakotas in the afternoon and evening. The forecast calls for severe weather that is “fairly similar to today’s event,” according to Marten.

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