Recent Storm Activity

If your community experienced a severe thunderstorm or tornado with hail or damaging winds in the last two years, your home may be damaged from the weather or flying debris. Call an experienced inspector or a contractor like First Choice Builders Inc. to assess whether there is damage to your property. In most cases, your property is insured for complete replacement of roofing, siding and other exterior items at no cost to you.

Below is a list of recent storms that have struck the Twin Cities metropolitan area. Information has been summarized due to space considerations. For complete information of each storm, refer to the National Weather Service website.

June 5 - 6, 2008: Large hail and damaging winds plagued much of central and southern Minnesota and Iowa, from mid-afternoon Thursday into the early morning hours of Friday.

Communities affected include: Victoria, Chaska, Chanhassen, Shorewood, Plymouth, Minnetonka, Maple Grove, Brooklyn Center, and others.

May 31, 2008 : A thunderstorm moved southeast through the western half of the Twin Cities metrpolitan area producing quarter to golf ball size hail across many communities.  The hail came down so heavy that it covered the ground in many communities for hours afterwards.

Communities affected include: Monticello, Corcoran, Dayton, Albertville, Rogers, Brooklyn Park, Maple Grove, Plymouth, New Hope, Crystal, St. Louis Park, Golden Valley, Minneapolis, Edina, Apple Valley, Eagan, and many others.

May 25, 2008: Thunderstorms produced widespread large hail damage, especially along and north of the Interstate 94 corridor, from Monticello to the northern Twin Cities metro area, and into west central Wisconsin. The supercell thunderstorms also spawned tornadoes in multiple locations, including near Coon Rapids and Hugo.

Communities affected include: Elk River, Andover, Anoka, Coon Rapids, Blaine, Rogers, Brooklyn Park, Monticello, Buffalo, Annandale, Maple Lake, and many others.

September 20 , 2007: Hail and strong winds including a tornado in Woodbury were reported on this date. A strong warm front grew strong during the afternoon and focused severe thunderstorms across central Minnesota during the latter afternoon and into the night, where an EF zero tornado occurred in the southwestern portion of Woodbury.

Communities affected include: Minneapolis, Richfield, Bloomington, Golden Valley, New Hope, Plymouth, Anoka, Blaine, New Brighton, St. Paul, Eagan, Inver Grove Heights, Woodbury, Coon Rapids, Hastings, and many others.

August 27 - 28, 2007: Large hail and widespread wind damage was reported across parts of Minnesota and western Wisconsin. This thunderstorm complex originated near Redwood Falls and raced eastward across the south side of the Twin Cities and into western Wisconsin, causing primarily wind damage with it. Some large hail was also seen within embedded stronger thunderstorm cores. Such a complex is not a rarity, especially in the northern U.S. in the summertime.

Communities affected include: Minneapolis, Richfield, Edina, Bloomington, St. Paul, New Brighton, Prior Lake, Savage, Inver Grove Heights, and many others.

August 18 - 19, 2007: Although this storm front produced flash flooding and record rainfall across southern Minnesota, hail was not reported.

August 13 - 14 , 2007: Several storm cells passed through the state of Minnesota with strong winds and large hail reported in the Twin Cities. One storm was producing large hail from southern Chisago County through central Anoka County. The largest hail report received by the NWS was from Blaine, where tennis ball size hail was reported. As another storm moved into the northwestern sections of Hennepin County. This storm would go on to produce large hail, damaging winds and torrential rains for areas from Minneapols through the western and southwestern suburbs.

Communities affected include: White Bear Lake, Coon Rapids, Blaine, Shoreview, Mounds View, Fridley, Eden Prairie, Deephaven, Crystal, Bloomington, Apple Valley, Lakeville, Burnsville, Jordon and many others.

July 8, 2007: Large hail was reported north and west of the Twin Cities. After a 98° day on July 7th at the Minneapolis/St. Paul International Airport, a cold front working its way slowly south triggered thunderstorms across east central Minnesota and parts of west central Wisconsin on July 8th.  The most severe thunderstorms produced golf ball to baseball size hail in Wright and Anoka counties, on the western and northern peripheries of the Twin Cities.

Communities affected include: Richfield, Minneapolis, Hopkins, Eagan, St. Paul, Ramsey, Andover, Monticello, Elk River, and others.

June 20 - 21, 2007: Extremely large hail was reported across Central and Southern Minnesota. A slowly southward sagging cold front on June 20th helped to initiate severe thunderstorms north of the Twin Cities and into west central Wisconsin.  These storms continued to track slowly southeast, producing significantly large hail. The largest hail seen in the area on the 20th was softball size in Harris in Chisago County in Minnesota. This front then became stationary, with instability and moisture along the front continuing to regenerate thunderstorms on the 21st in central and southern Minnesota.  Again, hail was the primary severe weather threat from these thunderstorms.  Hail the size of golf balls was seen west of Courtland in Nicollet County in Minnesota.

Communities affected include: Chaska, Prior Lake, Jordan, Elko, Eden Prairie, South St. Paul, Hastings, Red Wing and others.

June 7, 2007: Several large hail reports were received and a few damaging wind gusts in the Chanhassen area.  Some of the hail south of the Twin Cities occurred in the early morning hours as nighttime thunderstorms from the Dakotas moved into the state and gradually weakened.  Redevelopment of thunderstorms began in far eastern Minnesota late on the morning of the 7th.  A strong early afternoon supercell thunderstorm produced large hail as it tracked northeast from there across west central Wisconsin.  Hail up to the size of golf balls was reported in Island Lake, a small community southwest of Ladysmith.

Communities affected include: Albertville and many others.

May 23, 2007: Severe weather affected portions of eastern Minnesota and west central Wisconsin on Wednesday, May 23rd, producing at least one tornado, hail to the size of baseballs, and very damaging downburst winds in areas from the Twin Cities eastward. Specifically, a strong thunderstorm moved across Hennepin County, producing damage in the Plymouth area.  The National Weather Service received numerous reports of damage including an overturned semi trailer, damage to the roof of a commercial building and downed power lines and tree branches.

Communities affected include Wayzata, Plymouth, Minnetonka, Brooklyn Park, Crystal, St. Paul, Spring Lake Park, Forest Lake and others.

September 16, 2006: National Weather Service Employees have determined that the damage in Rogers on September 16, 2006 resulted from a tornado. Radar data indicate that the tornado touched down shortly before 10:00 PM.  The survey results show that the path length was 8 miles, from 3.5 miles west of downtown Rogers to the city of Dayton, then continued east across the Mississippi River to the city of Ramsey.

August 24, 2006: Widespread severe thunderstorms occurred over central and southern Minnesota and western Wisconsin on August 24th.  Thunderstorms developed during the mid-morning hours, producing large hail (up to the size of baseballs and grapefruits in some locations) from locations just to the southwest of the Twin Cities over toward the city of Northfield.  During the afternoon hours, additional thunderstorms developed, producing widespread reports of large hail as well as a long-lived F3 tornado in southern Minnesota.

Communities affected include Farmington, Elko, New Market, Jordan, Apple Valley, Rogers, Dayton, Champlin, Anoka, Coon Rapids, Blaine, and others.

July 24, 2006: During the early afternoon on July 24th, a cold front moved slowly south across central Minnesota and northern Wisconsin.  As this uplifted warm, moist, and unstable mid-summer air, thunderstorms initiated by 2:00 pm.  This storm produced golf ball size hail at the University of Minnesota.

Communities affected include Maple Plain, Montrose, Rockford, Plymouth, Minneapolis, St. Paul, and others.

June 24, 2006: A potent upper level disturbance sparked severe thunderstorms across Minnesota and western Wisconsin during the afternoon of Saturday, June 24th.  Because of cold air aloft associated with the disturbance, hail was seen under many of the stronger storms.  As the thunderstorms became more widepsread and organized in the mid-afternoon, isolated severe wind was seen in some locations.

Communities affected include Farmington, Elko, New Market, Jordan and others.

June 16, 2006:  A slow moving surface front triggered thunderstorms from southwest to east central Minnesota from mid-afternoon to mid-evening on Friday.  Some of the first thunderstorms produced wind damage over Watonwan county and near Minneapolis. 

Communities affected include Hopkins, Minneapolis, Arden Hills, Shakopee and others.

May 8, 2006: With the combination of daytime instability and cooling temperatures aloft, dime to nickel size hail occurred in late afternoon and evening thunderstorms over central Minnesota on Monday and Tuesday.

Communities affected include: Minnetonka, Plymouth, Golden Valley and others.