MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The upper Midwest braced Monday for severe thunderstorms with the potential for strong tornadoes.
The National Weather Service said the highest risks — a 4 on a scale of 1 to 5 — were in portions of southern Minnesota, including the Minneapolis area, northern Iowa and western Wisconsin. While forecasters expected two rounds of severe weather, the second, in the afternoon and evening, could be the most impactful.
“The most dangerous period is likely during the late afternoon and evening when strong tornado potential should be maximized. Scattered large to very large hail and damaging winds are likely as well,” meteorologists at the Storm Prediction Center in Norman, Oklahoma, wrote.
Depending on how the storms form, tornadoes in the EF-2 range or greater are possible, the weather service office for the Minneapolis area said.
The Storm Prediction Center said a lesser potential for severe weather extended as far south as parts of Texas and Oklahoma.
The City of Minneapolis took the unusual step Sunday of sending emails and recorded telephone messages to residents asking them to prepare. The city urged them to ensure they have multiple ways of getting weather alerts, are prepared to take shelter, secure outdoor furniture, and prepare for potential power outages by charging phones and other devices and having flashlights.
Monday's first round of storms darkened skies over downtown Minneapolis around 9 a.m. and brought brief heavy rains, but it triggered no weather warnings as it passed through. The weather service said the situation for the afternoon's main event remained volatile and could still spin up strong tornadoes.
Some Iowa schools decided to close early for the day or canceled evening activities ahead of the storms.
On Sunday evening, a tornado derailed an empty BNSF coal train west of Ashby in northwestern Nebraska. Initial reports were that a tornado measuring more than 1 mile (1.6 kilometers) wide derailed many of the approximately 130 cars on the train, toppling several onto their sides. There were no immediate reports of injuries and the locomotive remained upright, the News Channel Nebraska radio group reported. It was one of several tornadoes reported in that part of Nebraska on Sunday evening.
Steve Karnowski, The Associated Press
