Overview
- The Storm Prediction Center issued Tornado Watch 698 for parts of eastern Minnesota and northwest Wisconsin effective 3:40 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. CDT on Wednesday, warning that a couple of tornadoes, scattered hail up to about 1.5 inches and isolated wind gusts to 70 mph were possible.
- Local National Weather Service offices issued tornado warnings in southern and eastern Minnesota after radar showed rotation, including the first warning at 4:53 p.m. CDT for parts of Dakota and Goodhue counties.
- Forecasters said the risk was conditional and driven by a rare late‑October combination of upper‑level flow and a strong low‑level jet over pockets of warm, humid air, which supported curved low‑level hodographs and supercell potential.
- The main severe window for the Upper Midwest was the afternoon into early evening with the Twin Cities most at risk between about 4:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m., and forecasters reported that nocturnal cooling and increasing midlevel inhibition caused storms to weaken later in the evening.
- SPC mesoscale products continued to monitor isolated severe storms overnight and noted a separate, brief tornado threat from low‑topped supercells in south Texas on Thursday evening.