Severe weather rumbles through southeastern Minnesota Tuesday evening

Severe weather rumbled through our KAUS listening area Tuesday evening as three different tornado warnings and numerous severe thunderstorm warnings were issued by the National Weather Service.

A Severe Thunderstorm Warning was issued for Mower, southwestern Olmsted and western Fillmore Counties until 8:30 p.m. last night, and three different tornado warnings were also issued for all or parts of Dodge, Steele and Goodhue Counties.  The tornadic activity was radar-indicated and there were no reports of touchdowns, damage or injuries. Winds in excess of 70 mph in spots and lightning caused tree and property damage not only in Austin, but in numerous other locations around southeastern Minnesota.  In Blooming Prairie, a shed was struck by lightning and caught fire, but no injuries were reported. The severe weather also caused numerous power outages around the area, as Freeborn-Mower Cooperative reported that as many as 100 of their customers were without power at one point.  All or portions of the cities of Dexter and Lyle were also without power, and at last word, Rochester Public Utilities was reporting more than 500 customers were without power. That’s down from initial reports from late Tuesday when the number was over 800.

Xcel Energy reported thousands of outages in southeast Minnesota with 317 customers without electricity in Dodge County at one point and as many as 2,515 in Goodhue County.  There were also approximately 2,200 customers in the Zumbrota area at one point without power.

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