Severe thunderstorm watch until midnight includes Twin Cities

The Twin Cities and much of southern Minnesota and western Wisconsin are now included in a new severe thunderstorm watch area.

The watch is in effect until midnight. Be ready for severe weather warnings Wednesday evening.

URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED Severe Thunderstorm Watch Number 520 NWS Storm Prediction Center Norman OK

515 PM CDT Wed Jul 19 2023 The NWS Storm Prediction Center has issued a

* Severe Thunderstorm Watch for portions of South-central Minnesota Western Wisconsin

* Effective this Wednesday afternoon from 515 PM until Midnight CDT.

* Primary threats include... Scattered large hail and isolated very large hail events to 2 inches in diameter possible Scattered damaging wind gusts to 70 mph possible A tornado or two possible

SUMMARY...Increasing thunderstorm coverage over central/southwestern MN, and a favorable environment to the east across the remainder of the watch area (including Twin Cities metro) suggests a severe wind/hail threat will increase for another few hours and persist into late evening. The severe thunderstorm watch area is approximately along and 100 statute miles east and west of a line from 45 miles south southwest of Minneapolis MN to 40 miles north northeast of Minneapolis MN.