Severe storms are rolling through central Minnesota including the Twin Cities

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April is Minnesota’s windiest month, but year was a doozy in that regard.

”The number of days with 30-mile-an-hour wind gusts is a phenomenal number,” said climatologist and meteorologist Mark Seeley. “Redwood Falls had 21, Fargo-Moorhead had 20 such days; Rochester 18 such days; and here in the Twin Cities, 17 days. So truly, a very, very windy April will go in the record books this year.”

There were tornadoes, too. The National Weather Service in the Twin Cities said seven tornadoes touched down on Monday in a week in southern Minnesota, over into western Wisconsin.

But the good news is that about half of Minnesota’s sugar beets have been planted and about a third of corn, too.

“We still sit at about 75 percent of all the soils in the state are reporting adequate to surplus soil moisture,” climatologist and meteorologist Mark Seeley said. “So those are good signs.”

The places that saw the most precipitation were on opposite ends of the state. Northeast Minnesota saw around 8 to 15 inches of snow and the southeast received roughly 6 inches of rain. 

MPR News host Cathy Wurzer spoke with Seeley about the wet soil in their weekly weather chat. Listen to the full conversation by clicking the player above.

Cathy Wurzer

Host

Lukas Levin

Author

Storms brought rains that soaked large swaths of the state, dampening soil even further for farmers.

April weather recap: Warm, wet and windy with a smattering of tornadoes

April weather recap: Warm, wet and windy with a smattering of tornadoes

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