Monday had most of the ingredients needed for severe weather in southern Minnesota, but the absence of certain conditions kept it from becoming the worst-case scenario.
Heavy rain, small hail and high winds were reported across south-central Minnesota, though the Twin Cities were largely unscathed.
As the storm barreled east, it produced a confirmed a small tornado in Rice County near Faribault and Kenyon, causing structure damage to a farm, according to National Weather Service storm reports.
It could’ve been worse along the storm’s line if any “discrete” cells had formed ahead of it, said NWS meteorologist Brennan Dettmann.
“We didn’t see much of that,” he said. “We mainly saw just the line, so all the damage we saw was confined to that line that moved through.”
If one or more of the cells had formed, the fuel coming from the line could’ve produced the severe outcomes warned about in early forecasts.
A number of school districts sent students and staff home early on Monday, anticipating the severe weather and possible tornadoes.
As it happened, the storm’s damage in south-central Minnesota was mostly limited to isolated tree damage and hail damage. NWS crews were out surveying the storm path in southern Minnesota and western Wisconsin to assess the aftermath, Dettmann said.
One initial report of a tornado near Fairmont turned out to be a “gustnado.” This phenomenon has similar rotation to a tornado at the surface without a connection to the base of the storm.
Four small tornadoes were also confirmed in southern Eau Claire County, Wis.
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