Severe Thunderstorms Roll Through Northfield

Northfield residents got quite a light show and nearly an inch of rain from the severe thunderstorms that rolled through the area during the early-morning hours on Friday.

They apparently didn’t get the storm damage felt by their neighbors to the north, however.

Thousands of Xcel Energy customers in the Twin Cities metro remained without power at mid-morning Friday because of outages caused by the storm, according to media reports. More than 900 customers in Lakeville and Farmington were among those in that group.

In comparison, there were 15 customers in Northfield without electric as of 10 a.m., according to the Xcel outage map. It’s unclear whether those outages are storm-related, though.

The weather station at the Stanton Airport reported rainfall of 0.94 inches and wind gusts of up to 39 miles per hour between 2 and 7 a.m., according to the National Weather Service website. 

The storms knocked down trees and damaged homes throughout the metro area, says the Star Tribune. The weather service told the newspaper that 0.88-inch hail fell in Eagan and half-inch hail fell in Burnsvillle.

Damage from the storms left more than 130,000 Xcel customers without power, according to a statement from Xcel Energy.

Here is the text of the statement:

A severe band of thunderstorms moved through Minnesota early Fridaymorning, June 21. The storm caused significant damage to our electric system, including a number of downed poles and power lines. Outages are scattered throughout the state, with approximately 130,000 customers without power at this time. We are currently assessing the damages and no restoration time is yet available. Additional crews from the North and South Dakota and other utilities have been coordinated to assist with restoration efforts. Please stay away from downed power lines and always assume a downed wire is energized and therefore dangerous. Report downed power lines to Xcel Energy at1-800-895-1999 or call 9-1-1.