Keep the umbrella handy. It's going be a soggy afternoon and evening.
But it's not likely to be turbulent.
Prolonged rain that has fallen across much of central and southern Minnesota and the Twin Cities metro area Tuesday morning and early afternoon has robbed the atmosphere of the power needed to produce severe weather, said Michelle Margraf, a forecaster at the National Weather Service in Chanhassen. However, with a lot of humidity in the air, "heavy downpours are possible."
At 2 p.m. Tuesday, a line of gentle soaking rains with spots of heavier cells stretched from the Twin Cities back to the South Dakota border. The line will slowly move east over the next six to eight hours, dropping an inch or more of rain in places and threatening to delay the start of tonight's Twins-Yankees game at Target Field.
On Monday, heavy rain enveloped the ballpark just as the final out was made about 10 p.m. and soaked fans as they headed home. By the time the rain stopped, more than 2 inches had fallen along the Hwy. 169 corridor in the western suburbs, with 2.3 inches in Plymouth and Golden Valley, 2.2 inches in Maple Grove and Hopkins and just over 2 inches in New Hope and Long Lake. Officially only .65 inches fell at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport, but several locations in the metro received more than 1½ inches, the weather service said.
Through noon Tuesday, in Greater Minnesota totals included 3.2 inches in Brandon, 3.1 inches in Millerville, 2.99 inches in Long Prairie and 2.85 inches in Sobieski. Places such as Randall in Morrison County received more than 1½ inches of rain in an hour Monday night, according to the weather service.
The weather service received several reports of hail 1.75 inches in diameter in Eagle Bend and Bertha and greater than an inch across Otter Tail, Grant, Todd and Morrison counties.
Wind damage was primarily limited to downed trees and limbs, the weather service said.
A slight risk of severe weather remains for southeastern Minnesota Tuesday where there has been some sun and the atmosphere has more energy. But a risk for strong storms returns in the metro area and across southern Minnesota Wednesday, Margraf said.
In the event of bad weather, new sirens in Minneapolis could get their first workouts. The city installed seven 45-foot high severe weather sirens in and near the downtown area to meet new guidelines from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) that require that the sound of the sirens exceed the ambient noise level by at least 10 decibels. With their installation, the downtown area now has 11 sirens with another 15 to be affixed on traffic signal poles this fall. When they area added, Minneapolis will comply with the new FEMA guidelines.
Here are where new sirens were installed
•2039 Franklin Ave. E.
•10 25th St. W.
•1201 22nd St. E.
•1509 Linden Ave. W.
•201 Royalston Ave. N.
•201 Island Ave. E.
•Northeast corner of Hennepin Avenue South and Oak Grove Street.
Tim Harlow • 612-673-7768
