Bloomington and other parts of the south and west metro were cleaning up Monday after severe storms overnight toppled large trees and dropped hail as large as baseballs.
Most of the storms had subsided by midmorning Monday, with showers continuing in southeastern Minnesota, the National Weather Service said.
The diminishing storms came after a wild Sunday and early Monday that drenched southern Hennepin, northeastern Scott and northeastern Carver counties with 3 to 6 inches of rain overnight. Readings included 5.53 inches at the NWS offices in Chanhassen and more than 4 inches in Eden Prairie, Victoria, Excelsior and Hopkins. Cities including Minneapolis, Bloomington and Shakopee picked up more than 3 inches, said Brent Hewett, a meteorologist at the NWS.
The rains prompted the Weather Service to issue a flash flood warning earlier Monday, but that was dropped by 6:30 a.m. when no flooding was reported, Hewett said.
Winds clocked at nearly 60 mph roared through Eden Prairie, Edina and Bloomington as the rain fell. Numerous trees were down in Bloomington in the area between Normandale Boulevard and Xerxes Avenue from 90th Street to American Boulevard.
The city's Fire Department tweeted about widespread power outages.
Lightning lit up the sky and hail as large as baseballs fell in Loretto as storms pushed into Hennepin County around 1 a.m., Hewett said.
Other reports included hail 2 inches in diameter in Buffalo and 1-inch hail in Robbinsdale, Plymouth, St. Michael, Eagan and Prior Lake, the Weather Service said.
On Sunday afternoon and evening, a line of storms dropped golf-ball-sized hail in Chaska and Chanhassen and quarter-sized stones in Bloomington, according to the Weather Service.
Lightning struck a park shelter in Lakeville, where 40 people were attending an event Sunday afternoon. Three people were injured, none critically, when the bolt struck the building at Casperson Park, Lakeville police said.
A tornado was reported to have briefly touched down west of Thief River Falls while strong winds felled a pole barn and knocked down trees in Mavie, Minn.
The Department of Natural Resources was called in to help cut trees that trapped campers in Big Bog State Park in Waskish, Minn., the Weather Service said.
Tim Harlow • 612-673-7768
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