With the first round of storms moving out of the area, the National Weather Service is turning its attention to Monday afternoon when volatile conditions could spin up “all kinds of hazards,” including damaging winds, large hail and tornadoes.
An area from St. Cloud south to the Iowa border and eastward into Wisconsin remains under a moderate risk for violent weather, or 4 on a scale of 5 on the severity scale. Cities in the area include St. Cloud, Mankato, Albert Lea, Rochester and the Twin Cities metro area in Minnesota, and LaCrosse and Eau Claire in Wisconsin.
“The main concern for the second round is stronger individual supercell thunderstorms that can produce large hail, wind and tornadoes,” said National Weather Service Meteorologist Tyler Hasenstein said. “Any storms that do manage to form will be quite strong.”
In anticipation of severe weather, the Minneapolis and St. Paul school districts have called off after-school programs and activities.
In St. Paul, high school activities will be decided on a case-by-case basis and community education classes will be held as scheduled, the district said. The Minneapolis move covers “extended learning, youth enrichment after-school programming and all athletics,” an email from the district added.
The National Weather Service is advising Twin Cities residents to have plans in place in case they need to take shelter on Monday due to a threat of strong thunderstorms and tornadoes, which are most likely to occur in the late afternoon and early evening.
Thunderstorms could continue in the evening, Hasenstein said, as a cold front may sweep through the region.
“If you don’t have adequate shelter where you live or work, have an idea in your mind where you should go before storms arrive,” Hasenstein said. “It will be important to react quickly if these storms do form.”
