Nice Storm Friday Night, Drink it in Twin Cities

Nice Storm Friday Night, Drink it in Twin Cities

Weekend Headlines

- Saturday: Windiest day, northwest winds gust to 25, even 30 mph during the afternoon with a few spotty showers in northern MN.

- Sunday: Warmer day, better chance of sampling 80 degrees up at the lake (or river). More sunshine and less windy.

I spent part of the night at a local restaurant with family and friends knowing that there would be activity on the radar at some point during the evening. With the touch of a button I had the radar at the ready (it's too easy now-a-days with cell phones, technology is great!)
Of course, the Satellite TV went out - Twins game in extra innings and I was on the spot. What's happening with the weather Todd? OHHH! It looks good! One of my friends takes a look at the radar with me and mentions "We haven't seen a whole lot of red and orange on the radar this year, have we?"


It definitely looked good on radar, but take a look at what Tadd Parris from Excelsior, MN caught on Friday evening as storms approached Hollywood, MN on Hwy 7 West of the Twin Cities Metro.



The image above is the radar at the time when Tadd Parris captured the photo. Notice how the intense red colors in the radar bow out like a boomerang or a backwards "C" - It's not a classic "Bow Echo" but it certainly had characteristics of an outflow dominate storm or one that would produce wind damage. In fact, the storm was a heavy wind producer before it crossed the Minnesota - South Dakota border, look at the storm reports from Friday evening. The blue dots are wind damage reports where thunderstorms winds topped 60mph.


The good news, we didn't have any severe weather and most of us across the state had a nice quick soaker. Radar rain estimates show anywhere from 0.25" to 0.50" with some spots getting even more than that! The conveted Rain Gauge Award is yet to be announced, so stay tuned.