Thousands still without power as new round of storms approaches Twin Cities

More stormy weather is expected to rattle the metro area Tuesday and Wednesday.

The National Weather Service in Chanhassen said that morning commuters could see scattered showers Tuesday, but that the bulk of the rain is more likely in the evening.

Central and southern Minnesota could see widespread thunderstorms with strong winds Tuesday night, said forecaster Bill Borghoff.

There's another chance for showers Wednesday in central and southern Minnesota and west central Wisconsin, he said.

"Large hail, damaging winds, tornadoes and heavy rainfall will be possible," the weather service said.

Restoring power

In the meantime, more than 1,000 workers from Minnesota and several other states spread out across the metro area and other communities to work on restoring power to the final thousands who remain without electricity after a thunderstorm Sunday morning that not only brought a soaking but left piles of hail behind.

In the day since the storm zipped through central Minnesota and into western Wisconsin, utility crews have brought back power to more than 160,000 customers, but as of Monday night, another 5,400 or so customers were still without electricity.

Xcel beefed up its crews with workers from 10 states along with additional personnel from contractors and other utilities.

Most of the outages were in the west metro. Xcel said it makes live downed wires a first priority, given the threat to people and property.

"The damage from [Sunday's] storm is extensive, with power poles, downed trees and power lines and other damage to the power grid," Xcel said in a statement. "Crews are working as quickly and safely as possible to restore power. ... Most affected customers are expected to be restored by Tuesday."

Sunday's storm blasted through the Twin Cities around 8:30 a.m., tipping sailboats, knocking down trees and utility wires and bringing hail that peppered the sides of homes and other buildings. The hail piled up so deeply in Coon Rapids that the city brought out the snowplows.

Two storm-related injuries

The only reported storm-related injuries occurred in St. Paul, where the Fire Department said a storm-damaged tree that was being cut fell on two adults in the 1800 block of W. Minnehaha Avenue.

Both were taken to Regions Hospital and were expected to recover.

The storm played no favorites. In Blaine, officials at the renowned TPC golf course sent out an e-mail saying that the rough weather halted operations "until further notice" as staff sized up the cleanup its crews were facing.

Minneapolis-based Loaves and Fish also fell victim to the hailstorm. The nonprofit manages four farms and gardens, including one in Coon Rapids. On Monday, a farm manager found all the plants destroyed and the irrigation system damaged — $10,000 worth.

"Help is now urgently needed to get this farm into full production," the organization said in a news release.

Southeast of Forest Lake, the storm brought a very premature end to summertime operations of the Berry Patch, one of the oldest fruit-growing operations in the east metro.

"Our farm was in the direct path of the powerful thunder and hail storms that rolled through," read a statement on the Berry Patch's website.

In less than 30 minutes, all of this season's crops were lost to golf ball-sized hail: leaves and fruit shredded from strawberry plants, raspberry canes cut in half, blueberry bushes stripped of all fruit. The farm typically provides pick-your-own and picked strawberries, raspberries and blueberries until mid-August.

"There will be no fruit to pick this season," said the farm's website.

Staff writer Karen Zamora contributed to this report.

Paul Walsh • 612-673-4482