Storm Damage in Dodge County Potentially From Reported Tornado
Rochester, MN (KROC-AM News) - The National Weather Service is investigating whether a tornado was responsible for some of the storm damage that occurred near Rochester yesterday evening.
A funnel cloud was spotted just before 7 PM in an area south of Dodge Center. There were also brief two-way radio conversations between the National Weather Service and a severe weather spotter in that area who reported seeing a possible tornado touch down.
Strong straight-line winds were also reported in the same area, where a grain bin sustained significant damage in Claremont and another grain bin was flattened by strong winds in Hayfield. There were also numerous reports of downed trees and power lines in parts of Dodge County.
The National Weather Service also received reports of tree damage in Kenyon and a 70-mile-per-hour wind gust from the same thunderstorm cell when it moved through Spring Valley. The storm also produced 1-inch diameter hail just west of Stewartville. Large hail was also reported last night in the Faribault and Albert Lea areas.
A separate storm cell in the same line of thunderstorms produced damaging winds in Wabasha County and hail as large as 2.5 inches in diameter along the Mississippi River.
There have not been any reports of storm damage in Rochester, where the rainfall total from the thunderstorms that moved through the region yesterday evening and early yesterday morning was just under 7-tenths of an inch. Austin reported about 4-tenths of an inch of rain while just over an inch fell on La Crosse.
