Severe t-storm watch for parts of southern Minnesota until 9 p.m. Saturday

A severe thunderstorm watch continues until 9 p.m. this Saturday for portions of southern Minnesota:

The severe thunderstorm watch does not include the Twin Cities metro area.  Southern portions of the metro area could see scattered showers/thunderstorms late Saturday afternoon, and the entire metro area will have a chance of scattered showers and thunderstorms Saturday evening, with an isolated severe storm possible.

Details of the severe t-storm watch for portions of southern Minnesota, from the Storm Prediction Center of the National Weather Service:

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Severe Thunderstorm Watch Number 359

NWS Storm Prediction Center Norman OK

115 PM CDT Sat Jun 15 2019

The NWS Storm Prediction Center has issued a

* Severe Thunderstorm Watch for portions of

Iowa

northwest Illinois

southern Minnesota

* Effective this Saturday afternoon and evening from 115 PM until

900 PM CDT.

* Primary threats include...

Scattered large hail and isolated very large hail events to 2

inches in diameter possible

Scattered damaging wind gusts to 70 mph possible

SUMMARY...Thunderstorms are currently increasing in coverage across

the region, and may be accompanied by a risk for severe hail and

strong wind gusts.  Eventually activity may consolidate into an

organizing cluster of storms, which may pose a more prominent risk

for strong wind gusts while advancing southeastward across Iowa

through early this evening.

The severe thunderstorm watch area is approximately along and 110

statute miles east and west of a line from 35 miles north of Spencer

IA to 25 miles east of Ottumwa IA. For a complete depiction of the

watch see the associated watch outline update (WOUS64 KWNS WOU9).

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

REMEMBER...A Severe Thunderstorm Watch means conditions are

favorable for severe thunderstorms in and close to the watch area.

Persons in these areas should be on the lookout for threatening

weather conditions and listen for later statements and possible

warnings. Severe thunderstorms can and occasionally do produce

tornadoes.

&&

AVIATION...A few severe thunderstorms with hail surface and aloft to

2 inches. Extreme turbulence and surface wind gusts to 60 knots. A

few cumulonimbi with maximum tops to 500. Mean storm motion vector

31035.

_________________________________________________________________________

Late afternoon update: Fillmore county of southeastern Minnesota has been added to the severe thunderstorm watch.

_________________________________________________________________________

Simulated radar

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s High Resolution Rapid Refresh (HRRR) model shows the potential rain pattern Saturday afternoon through Saturday night:

rt615rad3
NOAA HRRR simulated radar from Saturday afternoon through Saturday night, via tropicaltidbits

The color chart to the right of the loop refers to the strength of the signal that returns to the radar, not to the amount of rain. It'll rain in some areas that look dry in the HRRR loop, but the loop shows the general rain pattern within the model. We could see scattered morning showers in Minnesota and western Wisconsin on Sunday.

You can see the recent local images from the local NWS radar here.   The recent radar loop for southwestern Minnesota can be found here. The southeastern Minnesota radar loop can be found here.

As always, updated weather information can be heard on the Minnesota Public Radio Network, and you’ll also see updated weather info on the MPR News live weather blog.

Programming note

You can hear my live weather updates on Minnesota Public Radio at 7:49 a.m. Thursdays and Fridays, and at 7:35 a.m., 9:35 a.m. and 4:35 p.m. each Saturday and Sunday.