The Latest: Severe storms cut power to 95,000 Xcel customers
CHANHASSEN, Minn. – The Latest on severe weather in Minnesota on Tuesday (all times local):
7:30 p.m.
Xcel Energy says 95,000 of its customers lost power as severe thunderstorms rumbled through the Twin Cities and a swath of central Minnesota.
The utility is reporting outages from Paynesville in central Minnesota through the Twin Cities to the state’s eastern border on the St. Croix River. But most of the outages are in Minneapolis, St. Paul and the west metro suburbs. Wright-Hennepin Co-op Electric reports more than 10,000 customers affected.
Wright County’s emergency manager, Steve Berg, says straight-line winds caused extensive tree damage in the Annadale, Buffalo and Hanover areas.
The thunderstorms caused temporary delays at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport, but spokesman Pat Hogan says the airport remained open.
There were no immediate reports of serious injuries or major structural damage.
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5:50 p.m.
Severe thunderstorms are moving through the Twin Cities area, packing high winds, heavy rain and large hail as they march west to east.
The skies turned dark over downtown Minneapolis before 6 p.m.
The National Weather Service says the storms knocked down trees up to 2 feet in diameter between Cold Spring and Kimball as they moved through central Minnesota. Widespread tree damage was reported between South Haven and Annandale, where gusts topped 71 mph. A pole barn was blown down near Becker.
Xcel Energy reports 10,000 customers without power, while Wright-Hennepin Co-op Electric has over 8,000 customers without power.
The weather service says a tornado touched down north of Appleton in Swift County of western Minnesota around 3 p.m. There were no immediate reports of damage from it.
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3:45 p.m.
The National Weather Service says the risk of severe weather has grown for Minnesota, including the Twin Cities area.
The weather service says a powerful line of severe thunderstorms is expected to cause widespread wind damage as it races east across southern and portions of central Minnesota and into western Wisconsin late Tuesday afternoon and evening. Wind gusts could occasionally exceed 80 mph. It’s expected to reach the western Twin Cities area between 5 and 5 p.m., and the Twin Cities between 5:30 and 6:30.
The severe thunderstorms moved into western Minnesota on Tuesday afternoon. The weather service says a tornado touched down north of Appleton in Swift County of western Minnesota around 3 p.m. There were no immediate reports of damage.
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