Thursday: Thunderstorms, Hail, and a Tornado Watch

Minnesota's weather is not boring. Right now, we're in a tornado watch, and will be for another hour and twenty minutes - unless the Weather Service lifts the watch.

Thunderstorms have been going by, dropping much-needed rain.


Part of the after-storm show, 9:23 p.m., Sauk Centre, Minnesota

And, about 10 miles down the road, hail.

"06/18/2009 0307 PM

"2 miles S of Osakis, Douglas County.

"Hail e0.88 inch, reported by trained spotter." Local Storm Report On Wunderground.com

I didn't see any hail in the neighborhood, but that's not surprising. Hail's even more localized than thunderstorm cells. Can't say that I feel left out. Chunks of ice as big across as an American nickel are a phenomenon I wouldn't want to get up close and personal with.

"It Could be Worse," as We Say in Minnesota

Austin, Minnesota, south of the Twin Cities, had a bad night yesterday. According to the police chief, three tornadoes went through the area.

The good news is that someone's lacerated hand, bad enough to warrant a trip to the hospital, was the worst injury, and nobody was killed.

The bad news is that 15 or 20 homes were damaged, around 600 trees ripped down in the city parks, and millions of dollars damage done to homes and businesses.

It doesn't look like we'll be seeing anything like that here, tonight. There's just over twenty minutes left in the watch as I'm wrapping this up: and nothing really close, apart from a clump of rain on the other side of Alexandria, some 20 miles west by northwest.

Austin, Minnesota, Tornado Video

I checked out YouTube, and found this collection of video clips taken by a storm chaser near Austin, Minnesota, last night. The video is quite striking, and the language of the people with the storm chaser fairly mild by contemporary standards.

"06 17 09 Storm Chase - Austin, MN"

BradNelson100, YouTube (June 17, 2009)
video 2:29


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In the news:

• "Tornado Watches, Warnings Hit Minn."
  MyFOXTwinCities.com (June 18, 2009)
• "Clean-Up Underway After Austin Tornado"
  MyFOXTwinCities.com (June 18, 2009)
• "At Least 1 Tornado Rips Through Austin Wednesday Night"
  MyFOXTwinCities.com (June 18, 2009)
• "More storms expected as tornadoes batter Midwest"
  CNN (June 18, 2009)