Despite a few tornado sightings, Minnesota apparently escaped major property damage or injuries from Thursday’s storms.
A large swath of the state and neighboring Wisconsin went on storm watch Thursday, and a tornado warning for the Twin Cities metro area prompted downtown office workers in Minneapolis and St. Paul to briefly take shelter as sirens blared.
In central Minnesota, a tornado was reported near Spring Hill, Minn., west of St. Cloud, and another tornado prompted a warning in the Melrose area.
Some tree damage was reported and power lines were toppled.
A tornado watch was issued across all of central Minnesota and into northwest Wisconsin until 8 p.m. The watch included 35 counties in Minnesota, including the Twin Cities metro area, and 20 counties in Wisconsin, according to the National Weather Service.
The watch area stretched as far west as the North Dakota border and as far east as La Crosse, Wis. Cities in the watch included Brainerd, Hinckley, St. Cloud, Morris, Willmar and Red Wing in Minnesota, and Hayward, Rice Lake and Eau Claire in Wisconsin.
For 40 minutes beginning at 2 p.m., the Federal Aviation Administration issued a ground stop at Minneapolis–St. Paul International Airport, stopping flights bound for the Twin Cities from taking off, spokesman Jeff Lea said. Nine planes already heading to the Twin Cities were forced to land at other airports, he said.
Parts of the metro area also were under threat of severe thunderstorms, with high winds of up to 60 mph forecast. A little before 10 p.m., more than 3,000 Twin Cities residents remained without power due to weather conditions.
