Storms down trees, power lines in parts of Minnesota

Severe thunderstorms battered southeastern Minnesota Saturday, uprooting trees and downing power lines in Goodhue and Dakota counties before crossing into Wisconsin.

In Lakeville, three people were injured, none critically, when a shelter at Casperson Park was struck by lightning, Lakeville police said. They were among 40 people who sought shelter during a gathering at the park.

Earlier Saturday, winds of up to 70 miles per hour brought down trees and knocked out power in parts of west-central Minnesota, with reports of damage from Canby and Madison to Granite Falls and Sacred Heart, according to the National Weather Service in Chanhassen.

Storms hit that region around 2 p.m., including a 70-mph wind gust measured at the Canby airport before the airport lost power. No tornadoes were reported.

Later Saturday, moderate storms moved east toward the Twin Cities and "fizzled out" before "firing back up" near Mankato, said NWS forecaster Mike Griesinger. Some 60-mph wind gusts and tree and power line damage were reported southeast of the Twin Cities as the storm moved through Red Wing.

As of 7:50 p.m., Xcel Energy was reporting 147 outages affecting 7,041 customers across southern Minnesota.

Things were calmer in the metro area Saturday evening, with gusts of 35 mph reported at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport. "The storms kind of messed with the pressure pattern out there and the atmosphere is just trying to get itself back into balance," Griesinger said.

But that could change when another storm, in central Nebraska, makes its way toward the Twin Cities overnight.

"That'd be a late-late-night show for us," Griesinger said.

Sharyn Jackson • 612-673-4853

@SharynJackson