(KNSI) — Severe weather raked the state Wednesday afternoon and evening, bringing high winds, heavy rain, and hail, leaving behind power outages and downed trees.
The highest wind gust recorded during the storms was 74 miles an hour in Richmond. That happened at about 5:15 p.m. A 54-mile-an-hour wind gust was also recorded near Watkins about 15 minutes later. Tree branches were reported down around the Cold Spring area around that same time. In Wright County, a trained storm spotter reported downed trees around the Montrose area and video showed a rotating supercell around 6:15.
A video showing baseball sized hail pounding Isanti County popped up on Twitter. The giant stones smashed windows, dented cars, damaged boats on Little Jesse Lake, and stripped trees. There were also reports of golf ball sized hail around Albany.
Two funnel clouds were reported with a brief touchdown around Tenstrike northeast of Bemidji.
An estimated 40,000 people lost power during the storms. Utilities such as Xcel Energy expected to have the lights back on for everyone Thursday.
The system ushered in cooler temps that will stick around through the weekend before a warming trend starts. That could push temps into the upper 90s.
It's about to get "Minnesota Hot" up here. This isn't looking like one day of heat, rather several days of warm lows and hot highs. Be prepared and plan accordingly!
A few chances for isolated showers Friday and Saturday, but nothing significant.#MNwx #WIwx pic.twitter.com/yvFtGUCwg0
— NWS Twin Cities (@NWSTwinCities) July 20, 2023
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