Rain waterlogs Twin Cities

Heavy rain overnight Monday caused flash flooding in some areas of the Twin Cities, southeastern Minnesota and western Wisconsin.

Rain amounts topped a half-foot in spots around the Twin Cities area, with more than 3 inches reported in much of the southern and east-metro areas.

Rainfall began about 12:40 a.m. at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport, according to the National Weather Service, and continued, with heavy rain and frequent lightning, until moving out of the metro region by about 9 a.m.

As the rain diminished midday Monday, the aftereffects became known.

A soggy morning commute included several crashes and lane closures.

Just across the border in Wisconsin, River Falls saw more than 7.3 inches of rain, according to the Weather Service. The nearby Kinnickinnic River rose nearly 7 feet on Monday, cresting at just below 18 feet.

Hudson, Wis., meanwhile, reported more than 5 inches.

Burnsville led the way in the Twin Cities area, with 4.73 inches of rain, the Weather Service said. Close behind were Farmington (4.61 inches), Cottage Grove (4.4), Woodbury (4.36) and Stillwater (3.73).

In St. Cloud, numerous vehicles failed to negotiate high water shortly after midnight at 33rd Avenue and 8th Street N.

Power outages attributed to the stormy weather had about 1,600 Twin Cities customers without electricity as of 7:40 a.m., 1,200 of them in the west metro and the rest in the east metro, said a spokeswoman for Xcel Energy.

In Brooklyn Park, fire officials suspect that a bolt of lightning set a house ablaze about 1 a.m. on Mississippi Circle N., just west of the Mississippi River. Two people were in the two-story home at the time when the lightning struck the roof, said Battalion Chief Mike Maurer. The residents got out fine, and firefighters went in and rescued two cats, Maurer added.

Heavy rain soaked a mobile home park southeast of Hudson, according to the Red Cross, which was assisting displaced residents of Troy Glen Court with alternate shelter, food, personal care products and other needs.

At Monday's commuting outset, a semitrailer truck spun out and hit a movable barrier in a construction zone on northbound Interstate 494 in Plymouth. The wreck occurred shortly after 6:30 a.m. just north of Hwy. 55. It blocked two traffic lanes and forced the Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT) to shut down that side of the highway.

Also during the morning commute, water pouring onto the road forced MnDOT to block one lane of southbound Hwy. 100 at Hwy. 7 in St. Louis Park.

A power outage in Metro Transit's Operations and Maintenance Facility in downtown St. Paul led to brief service disruptions on the light-rail Green Line.

Paul Walsh • 612-673-4482