Severe Weather Rolls Through Central Minnesota Saturday Evening

Portions of Central Minnesota saw severe weather roll through Saturday evening starting at just after 8:00pm. Portions of Todd County received severe thunderstorm warnings from just after 8:00 p.m. through 9:15 p.m. Other communities in Central Minnesota were also affected by the wind, hail, and rain.

At 8:51pm, a severe thunderstorm warning was issued for portions of both Todd County and Morrison County as a line of strong storms moved through. The storms were capable of producing wind gusts as high as 60mph, with possible property damage being caused not only by the wind but also by the threat of hail.

By 9:25pm, the storms continued eastward, and a new severe thunderstorm warning was issued that covered portions of a 4-county area. The counties that were affected by this severe thunderstorm warning were Southeastern Todd County, Southwestern Morrison County, Northwestern Benton County, and Northeastern Stearns County. That cell moved straight east with the potential for 60mph winds and quarter-sized hail.

At 9:36pm, a tornado warning was issued for Northwestern Benton County, Southwestern Morrison County, and North Central Stearns County in central Minnesota. According to Weatherology meteorologist Jay Marszalek, a funnel cloud was spotted near St. Stephen shortly before the tornado warning was issued, and the warning was allowed to expire at 10:15pm.

Two more severe thunderstorm warnings were issued for portions of Central Minnesota, one at 10:20pm that was for portions of Northeastern Benton, Southeastern Morrison, Northwestern Isanti, Southwestern Kanabec, and Southern Mille Lacs Counties until 10:45pm. The Morrison County warning was cancelled at 10:34pm after the storm had moved through the area.

A second severe thunderstorm warning was issued at 10:28pm for Southeastern Benton County, Sherburne County, Wright County, Northwestern Anoka County, Northwest Hennepin, and Northeast Hennepin County, Southwestern Isanti County, and Southwestern Mille Lacs County in east central Minnesota until 11:15 pm as the same line of strong storms moved east.

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Earlier in the day, many residents of the St. Cloud/Sauk Rapids area were taking in the festivities for their respective town celebrations, which included the Granite City Days Parade in St. Cloud during the morning hours, and then the Sauk Rapids Food Fest that ran until 8pm.