Tornado Warning In Western Minnesota Amid Severe Storms
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- Here are the latest updates on severe weather in western Minnesota.
8:09 p.m.
As the tornadic storm cell continues to move north, a larger line of severe weather stretching down to southern Minnesota is starting to cross the border from South Dakota. Traverse, Big Stone, Becker, Clay, Otter Tail and Wilkin Counties are under a severe thunderstorm warning until 8:45 p.m. as that line of storms moves west, and is expected to hit the Twin Cities late Tuesday night.
7:00 p.m.
The National Weather Service is extending the tornado warning to Douglas, Pope, Grant and Stevens Counties until 7:45 p.m. The organization also issued tornado watches in Sibley, Stearns, Stevens, Swift, Todd and Wright Counties until 2:00 a.m.
Most of western Minnesota remains under a weather advisory of some kind.
Twitter user Vincent Maciej captured a video of the tornado near Morris.
6:47 p.m.
The NWS is reporting a confirmed sighting of a tornado near Hancock in Stevens County, and is heading north.
6:30 p.m.
Doppler weather radar detected rotation in a storm over Pope, Stevens, Chippewa and Swift Counties Tuesday night.
Spotters haven't seen a tornado touch down, though the National Weather Service issued a tornado warning in those counties until 7:15 p.m.
The storm was already indicated as severe as a cell formed quickly Tuesday evening in the area just west of Montevideo. The NWS issued a tornado warning for parts of Swift and Chippewa Counties that ended at 6:30 p.m. Storm spotters in the area did notice a rotating wall cloud, but no funnel cloud or tornado.
WCCO Meteorologist Chris Shaffer says the storm was also producing hail up to 2 inches in diameter, according to radar measurements.
The small cell will be followed by a line of storms heading east from South Dakota across Minnesota, expected to hit the Twin Cities region late Tuesday night or early Wednesday morning.
The storm also comes amid a wide severe thunderstorm watch in northwestern Minnesota.
