MN weather: October storms bring hail to parts of Minnesota

Hi everyone, Fox 9 Chief Meteorologist Ian Leonard, sorry, having a drink of water, talking with the weather team, Erica and Cody are with me in the weather center. Obviously a lot going on tonight, a lot has happened so far this afternoon. There's the tornado watch outlined in red, it includes the metro, two areas of concern, one here that has crossed over I-35 north of the metro, now into parts of northwestern Wisconsin. And the second, this line of storms that comes from the Mississippi River, Duran, Pepin, Buffalo counties down through Goodhue County and off toward Rochester. Linear nature of this storm makes it so much more apt and able to carry on in its current context here off to the east without pulling apart like some of these big supercells have. So let's move around. The tornado warning, the Doppler indicated tornado warning that was in place here down toward Goodhue County, that has been allowed to expire. Instead of that long storm, we end up with a linear storm almost mirroring the cold front that is sliding in out of the west-northwest. All along this storm, there will be strong flares of thunderstorms. There will be very strong winds. Anytime you end up with a linear complex like this, I always say it's like an archer's bow. So you pull back the bow and once you release the arrow, that's the very strong winds that will occur here just in front of the rain. So you step outside, you're like, oh, I want to watch the storms coming. Whoosh, winds at 30, 40, 50 miles per hour. Well before the rain has arrived, this is one of those nights where I'm like, stay inside, we've got you covered. It's only okay to grab a picture if you are perfectly safe. There go the storms after becoming tornadic. Now, no longer tornadic, but still some big thunder and lightning. Take you now north and east of the metro. Another Doppler-indicated tornado warning. This has also shrank back off to the east from I-35. Just one county involved here, squarely in parts of Burnett County until 545. But that puts all this area here, Hayward, Spooner, Maple Plain, all in play for this strong storm to spread out and work off to the east northeast again a doppler indicated tornado warning here flashing in black and white until 5 45 i used the term nothing burger earlier for the metro anytime we have a tornado watch and severe storms and at least the ingredients to create severe storms and they don't happen they'll always be doomsayers on facebook and on the social media going oh darn it i wanted a really strong storm i'm like no No, nobody wants that ever. A nothing burger for the Metro tonight is great news. There is thunder and lightning around, and there will be thunder and lightning and some fast-moving storms coming across the Metro the next couple of hours. But at this point, we're getting very close to losing our severe parameters. This is an entirely different setup than we'd have in June, July, or August, where we'd still be in the searing heat and humidity of the day, Well, our sunset is in about 40 minutes. We went cloudy instead of sunny late afternoon. Kind of clipped some of the strength from the ingredients in the storm, and I'm good. Here's the next six hours as that line races off to the east. That's where the storms are now. I'll reset this. There's the storms. Reset it. Watch as the computer, our storm vision, takes the storms linear and marches them off to the east as we head through this evening. The tornado watch is still in place until 9 p.m. I'd imagine very shortly here in the next half hour, we'll see the backside of this clear the metro and maybe come over to, say, the St. Croix River Valley, but still include a good portion of west-central Wisconsin. It is still a night to stay sky aware. Doppler-indicated storms here in Burnett County and this line of strong thunderstorms here working off to the east, crossing the Mississippi River Valley. I'm going to send things back to Simone and Kelsey. i didn't forget your name i'm just processing things okay we got a lot going on over there yeah uh but keep in mind too i'm always so happy and thankful that uh erica and cody are with me tonight figuring out the storms keeping people ahead of the storm or as i've said for i don't know 35 years helping you and everyone else stay sky aware it's it's what we do yeah and we have some pictures and videos to show too oh love to see them yeah let's take a look at what we're seeing from around the metro. Hailstones there. That's Rice County. Looks like a little bit of snow on the ground, but it's just hail. And then look at this one. Rain and peeking out the window, yeah. Oh, that looks like a lot. Yeah, that's good. Get the cover on the jacuzzi. It is time to go. The poor grill is going to take a beating. Yeah, it does. And yeah, Sauk Rapids a lot of hailstones as you see this system move out of our area and then oh there's somebody with a handful there too. Where's that one from Natalie do we know? Grove City is what our producer says. That's like oh hell no. Should just be the caption. That is the catchphrase from tonight and keep sending in these pictures and videos when you can we appreciate it that way we can show people what it looks like in your neighborhood tonight as Ian and Cody and Erica continue to cover this severe weather. Okay, fox9.com slash photos. That's where you can send us any pictures and videos you may have. Remember to please do that safely, but we'll keep tracking it and keep you updated throughout this next hour. All right, want to get back to