More than 3,500 Xcel Energy customers in the Twin Cities metro area were without power as of 9 p.m. after a thunderstorm rolled through Monday evening.
The storm dropped just over a half-inch of rain as of 7 p.m., with wind gusts as high as 68 miles per hour in Woodbury, according to a preliminary report from the National Weather Service. Gusts reached higher than 40 mph in St. Paul, Brooklyn Center and Richfield.
The storm brought a tree down onto parked cars in Chaska, where branches up to a foot in diameter also fell in two other locations, the weather service said.
The metro area has received more than 11 inches of precipitation since June 1, nearly 4 inches above average, according to the weather service. As of the same date last year, the area received just 1.8 inches of rain.
