The victim of the Olmsted County crash wasn’t immediately identified. The fatal crash was one of a series of crashes on roads in southeastern Minnesota that snarled traffic in dense fog. crash, which involved three commercial vehicles and three passenger cars, resulted in the closure of northbound Highway 52 for several hours. The Minnesota State Patrol reported a fatal chain-reaction crash in foggy conditions Wednesday morning on U.S. Paul International Airport, 3 degrees higher than the record for the day - 51 degrees in 2014.įog also affected the area early Wednesday, spawning a dense fog advisory in the Twin Cities during the morning. Record high temperatures preceded the storm with the weather service reporting a high of 54 at Minneapolis-St. “I’ve never seen a moderate risk of severe weather in December,” he said. What makes this storm so noteworthy is the potential for the storms to be severe. “It would really expand the tornado season, if we get one,” Assistant State Climatologist Pete Boulay said earlier Wednesday.īoulay added that it’s not that unusual for Minnesota to see thunderstorms in December - they happen about once every five years. 16, 1931, near Maple Plain, according the state climatology office. The latest tornado in the record books is Nov. In addition, Minnesota had never seen a recorded tornado in December. The weather service said the “unprecedented outbreak of severe thunderstorms” had not been seen here before in mid-December. The highest risk of severe weather was predicted to be southeast of a line from Fairmont and Northfield to Ellsworth, Wis., putting the Twin Cities north of the worst of it.Īccording to a graphic issued by the National Weather Service Storm Prediction Center: On a scale of 1 to 5, the metro was straddling severe weather risk levels 2 and 3, while the highest-risk areas were rated 4. Prepared for possible widespread power outages, Xcel Energy staged work crews at the ready Wednesday night. The damaging winds posed the risk of blowing down trees and power lines. Thursday, with gusts possibly up to 60 mph. The storm also triggered a high wind warning for overnight until 6 a.m. NWS Storm Prediction Center December 16, 2021 Today (12/15) has set the record for the most number of hurricane force (75+ mph) thunderstorm wind gusts in a day (55, and counting) since 2004. Fillmore County seemed to have been most affected. but seemed initially to have inflicted less damage on the power grid and other infrastructure than expected.īy 9 p.m., some 22,000 power outages were reported statewide, with most in far southeastern Minnesota. Thunderstorms arrived in the Twin Cities about 7 p.m. It was canceled in the Wisconsin counties about an hour later. but was canceled in the Minnesota counties by 9 p.m. The weather service had issued a tornado watch earlier on Wednesday that encompassed 11 Minnesota counties - including the Twin Cities - and nine Wisconsin counties. There have been widespread reports of extreme wind gusts, some exceeding 80 mph, in southeastern Minnesota as well as power outages, toppled trees and building damage. This unprecedented line of turbulent storms unfurled across the Great Plains on Wednesday and into Thursday, spawning tornadoes and damaging winds along its path.Īs the December storm swept to the northeast, the National Weather Service issued numerous tornado and severe thunderstorm warnings across southeastern Minnesota and western Wisconsin on Wednesday evening.
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