Slow moving thunderstorms packing dangerous winds and heavy rains were pelting northwest and central Minnesota Monday afternoon with the Twin Cities and southern Minnesota in its sights by evening, the National Weather Service said.
A swath of Minnesota was under an enhanced risk for severe weather stretching from the southwestern suburbs through Mankato and into south central Minnesota while the remainder of the state was under a slight risk, said forecaster Tony Zaleski at the weather service's Chanhassen office.
By 1:30 p.m. copious rains had drenched farm fields across central Minnesota with 4.3 inches of rain reported in Elrosa, Minn. in Stearns County while more than 3 inches had fallen in Madison. A flood warning was in effect until 3:15 p.m. for Swift, Chippewa and Lac qui Parle counties in far western Minnesota, including the towns of Appleton, Madison, Milan, Bellingham and Marietta. Rain falling at 1 to 2 inches per hour prompted the weather service to warn motorists not to drive on flooded roads.
"Don't drown when encountering flooded roads," the weather service said. "Most flood deaths occur in vehicles."
Storms are expected to develop over the southern portion of the state Monday afternoon and in the Twin Cities between 5 and 10 p.m. Temperatures in the upper 80s and high dew points have created conditions ripe for severe weather, Zaleski said.
Earlier Monday, storms with winds as high as 80 to 90 miles per hour tore through northwestern Minnesota. In Lake Park, wind gusts were strong enough that bleachers at the high school were flung over a softball field backstop and through an outfield fence before landing 600 feet away on the school's football field, said Lake Park Audubon School Superintendent Dale Hogie.
The wind also partly lifted a dugout off its base. The high school suffered four broken windows, but "noting that will keep us from operating the school."
Elsewhere in the tiny town east of the Fargo-Moorhead area on Hwy. 10, trees were toppled by the storm that whipped through at 3 a.m. Monday. He said he saw a roof had been blown off a storage building. The highest wind gust reported was 94 miles per hour in Rothsay, the weather service said.
