Tuesday was a breath of fresh air. There were a few pop-up storms in southern Minnesota Wednesday morning. But with our warm temperatures Wednesday and Thursday, much of central and southern Minnesota could be in for some rough weather beginning later Wednesday afternoon.
WCCO Meteorologist Paul Douglas says he expects the first swarm of storms to move into the metro after 7:00 this evening.
“There's an enhanced risk of severe weather in southwestern Minnesota today, which is a step up from slight risk,” Douglas says. “So the best chance of hail, maybe some damaging winds, far southwestern Minnesota. Tomorrow that extends into west central and central Minnesota. And there could even be a few tornadoes. I think the heat and the severe threat both peak tomorrow.”
Douglas does add that pop-up showers and storms could happen at any time.
“It's ripe for a mesoconvective system this evening,” Douglas explains. “That's one of those statewide swarms of thunderstorms where it's not just a line, it's a swarm. I can't put it any differently than that. They tend not to be quite as severe, but they produce heavy rain and a lot of lightening.”
If you’re off to the Twins game at Target Field tonight, you might want to bring some rain gear. Paul says “have a plan B.”
The Twin Cities office of the National Weather Service adds that the storms across parts of Minnesota Wednesday could contain very large hail, damaging winds and a few tornadoes are possible. In addition, very heavy rain and localized flash flooding are possible, especially near and after sunset.
Thursday is expected to be even warmer, or as Paul said to Vineeta Sawkar on the WCCO Morning News, it will be “swamp-like”.
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