We’re getting a little break from severe weather today as the warm front that triggered some strong thunderstorms last night pushes northward through the Upper Mississippi Valley and away from our area, setting the stage for a windy, hot, and humid day, but one with a “capped” atmosphere, or in other words it’ll be too warm aloft for thunderstorms to develop through the rest of the day locally.  It’s also likely to be the warmest day of the week and possibly the entire year so far as strong south winds will work to mix down some pretty warm air, combining with tons of sun to warm temperatures at the surface well into the 90s.  We’ll likely see low to mid 90s around the local area this afternoon with heat indices close to 100 by mid to late afternoon.  Those south winds will occasionally gust beyond 30mph, possibly making the heat more bearable, but probably not much more.

Speaking of the intense thunderstorms from last night, some of those slid through the north portion of our viewing area between 4:00 and 6:00 AM today, producing some strong wind gusts and hail, but thankfully because they were moving eastward at 60mph, there wasn’t a lot of heavy rainfall produced.  Here’s a look at some of the damage reports from the region:

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT...SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TWIN CITIES/CHANHASSEN MN
518 AM CDT TUE JUN 19 2012

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0211 AM     TSTM WND GST     HUTCHINSON              44.89N 94.37W 
06/19/2012  M53.00 MPH       MCLEOD             MN   AWOS            

            MEASURED AT HUTCHINSON AIRPORT

0240 AM     HAIL             REDWOOD FALLS           44.54N 95.11W 
06/19/2012  M0.75 INCH       REDWOOD            MN   BROADCAST MEDIA 

            DIME SIZED HAIL

0243 AM     TSTM WND GST     REDWOOD FALLS           44.54N 95.11W 
06/19/2012  M45.00 MPH       REDWOOD            MN   ASOS            

            MEASURED AT REDWOOD FALLS MUNICIPAL AIRPORT

0255 AM     HAIL             10 SE REDWOOD FALLS     44.44N 94.97W 
06/19/2012  M0.75 INCH       REDWOOD            MN   BROADCAST MEDIA 

            NICKEL SIZED HAIL NEAR GILFILLAN

0255 AM     HAIL             MORGAN                  44.42N 94.92W 
06/19/2012  M0.75 INCH       REDWOOD            MN   BROADCAST MEDIA 

            DIME SIZED HAIL

0300 AM     HAIL             PLYMOUTH                45.02N 93.46W 
06/19/2012  M0.75 INCH       HENNEPIN           MN   NWS EMPLOYEE    

            DIME SIZED HAIL

0301 AM     TSTM WND GST     CRYSTAL                 45.04N 93.36W 
06/19/2012  M46.00 MPH       HENNEPIN           MN   ASOS            

            MEASURED AT MINNEAPOLIS CRYSTAL AIRPORT

0302 AM     TSTM WND GST     EDEN PRAIRIE            44.85N 93.46W 
06/19/2012  M53.00 MPH       HENNEPIN           MN   ASOS            

            MEASURED AT FLYING CLOUD AIRPORT.

0303 AM     HAIL             FAIRFAX                 44.53N 94.72W 
06/19/2012  M0.75 INCH       RENVILLE           MN   LAW ENFORCEMENT 

            DIME SIZED HAIL

0313 AM     TSTM WND GST     NEW ULM                 44.31N 94.46W 
06/19/2012  M49.00 MPH       BROWN              MN   AWOS            

            REPORTED AT NEW ULM MUNICIPAL AIRPORT

0314 AM     TSTM WND GST     MINNEAPOLIS             44.96N 93.27W 
06/19/2012  M44.00 MPH       HENNEPIN           MN   ASOS            

            MEASURED AT MINNEAPOLIS ST PAUL INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT

0321 AM     HAIL             WINTHROP                44.54N 94.36W 
06/19/2012  M0.88 INCH       SIBLEY             MN   LAW ENFORCEMENT 

            REPORTED BY POLICE DEPARTMENT

0330 AM     HAIL             GAYLORD                 44.55N 94.22W 
06/19/2012  M1.00 INCH       SIBLEY             MN   TRAINED SPOTTER 

            ENOUGH HAIL TO MAKE THE GROUND WHITE

0330 AM     TSTM WND GST     2 NNW NEW GERMANY       44.91N 93.99W 
06/19/2012  M56.00 MPH       CARVER             MN   MESONET         

            MEASURED BY MNDOT SENSOR ON BWY 7 AT MILE POST 161. 

0335 AM     TSTM WND DMG     LESTER PRAIRIE          44.88N 94.04W 
06/19/2012                   MCLEOD             MN   TRAINED SPOTTER 

            LARGE TREE ON HOUSE. TIME ESTIMATED BY RADAR. 

0345 AM     HAIL             LE CENTER               44.39N 93.73W 
06/19/2012  E0.75 INCH       LE SUEUR           MN   EMERGENCY MNGR  

            PENNY SIZED HAIL AND WINDS APPROXIMATELY 30 MPH.

0352 AM     TSTM WND GST     4 ENE HENDERSON         44.55N 93.83W 
06/19/2012  M66.00 MPH       SCOTT              MN   MESONET         

            MNDOT ROAD SENSOR

0355 AM     TSTM WND GST     BELLE PLAINE            44.62N 93.76W 
06/19/2012  M83.00 MPH       SCOTT              MN   FIRE DEPT/RESCUE

0355 AM     HAIL             BELLE PLAINE            44.62N 93.76W 
06/19/2012  M1.00 INCH       SCOTT              MN   TRAINED SPOTTER 

0359 AM     TSTM WND GST     1 N NEW PRAGUE          44.56N 93.57W 
06/19/2012  M80.00 MPH       SCOTT              MN   EMERGENCY MNGR  

            MEASURED BY SPOTTER AT CO RD 2 AND 21. REPORTED BY 
            EMERGENCY MANAGER. 

0400 AM     TSTM WND GST     1 E SAVAGE              44.76N 93.34W 
06/19/2012  M63.00 MPH       SCOTT              MN   MESONET         

            APRSWXNET SENSOR. TIME ESTIMATED.

0403 AM     TSTM WND GST     PRIOR LAKE              44.73N 93.43W 
06/19/2012  M60.00 MPH       SCOTT              MN   NWS EMPLOYEE    

0404 AM     TSTM WND GST     EDEN PRAIRIE            44.85N 93.46W 
06/19/2012  M54.00 MPH       HENNEPIN           MN   ASOS            

            MEASURED AT FLYING CLOUD AIRPORT

0410 AM     HAIL             LAKEVILLE               44.68N 93.24W 
06/19/2012  M0.75 INCH       DAKOTA             MN   TRAINED SPOTTER 

0410 AM     TSTM WND DMG     LAKEVILLE               44.68N 93.24W 
06/19/2012                   DAKOTA             MN   TRAINED SPOTTER 

            10 INCH DIAMETER TREE DOWNED

0411 AM     TSTM WND GST     LAKEVILLE               44.68N 93.24W 
06/19/2012  M54.00 MPH       DAKOTA             MN   AWOS            

            REPORTED AT LAKEVILLE AIRPORT

0414 AM     TSTM WND GST     FARIBAULT               44.30N 93.27W 
06/19/2012  M55.00 MPH       RICE               MN   AWOS            

            MEASURED AT FARIBAULT MUNICIPAL AIRPORT

0415 AM     TSTM WND DMG     2 SSW ROSEMOUNT         44.72N 93.09W 
06/19/2012                   DAKOTA             MN   TRAINED SPOTTER 

            30 FT TREE DOWN. WOOD FENCE BLOWN OVER. NEAR INTERSECTION
            OF SHANNON PARKWAY AND HWY 46. TIME ESTIMATED BY RADAR.

0419 AM     TSTM WND GST     MINNEAPOLIS             44.96N 93.27W 
06/19/2012  M54.00 MPH       HENNEPIN           MN   ASOS            

            MEASURED AT MINNEAPOLIS ST PAUL INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT.

0423 AM     TSTM WND DMG     EAGAN                   44.82N 93.16W 
06/19/2012                   DAKOTA             MN   TRAINED SPOTTER 

            30 FT TALL PINE TREE UPROOTED. BRANCHES BROKEN OFF OTHER 
            TREES. 

0425 AM     HAIL             DUNDAS                  44.43N 93.20W 
06/19/2012  M1.00 INCH       RICE               MN   TRAINED SPOTTER 

0429 AM     TSTM WND GST     ST PAUL                 44.95N 93.10W 
06/19/2012  M64.00 MPH       RAMSEY             MN   ASOS            

            REPORTED AT ST PAUL DOWNTOWN AIRPORT

0430 AM     TSTM WND DMG     HASTINGS                44.73N 92.85W 
06/19/2012                   DAKOTA             MN   PUBLIC          

            18 INCH DIAMETER TREE UPROOTED.

0433 AM     TSTM WND GST     STANTON                 44.47N 93.02W 
06/19/2012  M63.00 MPH       GOODHUE            MN   AWOS            

            REPORTED AT STANTON AIRFIELD

0438 AM     HAIL             PRESCOTT                44.75N 92.79W 
06/19/2012  M1.25 INCH       PIERCE             WI   LAW ENFORCEMENT

We’re   The next round of thunderstorm activity is expected to develop tonight, especially late in the evening through the overnight period when a few storms may become severe and heavy rainfall will become a concern because of the slow- moving nature of the approaching cold front.  That front will move through the local area early tomorrow and then stall, continuing to spark thunderstorm chances through the day, keeping the day gray and a bit cooler, but also quite wet as rainfall totals may exceed an inch in a couple of spots.  Because of that, a Flood Watch has been posted for Goodhue and Rice Counties locally and for a large portion of central Minnesota where recent heavy rains have left river levels very high and flooding is a bigger concern right now.

Some parts of Goodhue County have already received more than 10 inches of rain in the past week, so it and several other water logged counties are under a Flash Flood Watch. Wednesday is expected to be a wet situation for much of our area.

Incidentally, summer officially begins Wednesday at 6:09 PM local time.  Happy last full day of spring!

Posted under severe weather