Scattered thunderstorms flood some Twin Cities roads, down trees

Scattered thunderstorms Saturday caused some flash flooding on Twin Cities roads and downed some trees and powerlines.

While Minneapolis didn't even record an inch of rain, other cities were hit hard with a lot of rain all at once. Some spots from St. Paul to Cottage Grove and South St. Paul recorded as much as 3 inches of rain, said Mike Griesinger, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service office in Chanhassen.

"[It was] very spotty, very hit and miss," he said.

The flash flooding temporarily closed some roadways, including in West St. Paul, before the water receded later Saturday. From Howard Lake in Wright County to New Germany in Carver County, the band of thunderstorms caused downed trees and powerlines, according to the Weather Service.

As of Saturday night, Xcel Energy reported about 2,000 customers were without power across the metro, mostly in Hennepin County.

In Renville County, near Redwood Falls, about 100 miles west of Minneapolis, a line of storms moved through, followed by a second round of storms that barely budged for two hours. As a result, an area about the size of Minneapolis was drenched in 8 to 10 inches of rainfall in a short timespan.

"They just got blitzed," Griesinger said.

Most of Minnesota is experiencing a drought after an unusually dry few weeks and there's no rain in the immediate forecast.

"We'll take anything at this point," Griesinger said. "We could use the rain."