At least 7 preliminary tornado reports Thursday; Minneapolis tornado close call

Well that escalated quickly.

Tornado warnings were issued Thursday for the heart of the Twin Cities area, including Minneapolis at 2:25 p.m.

The rotating supercell that rolled north right through Minneapolis came about as close as you can without dropping a tornado right in the heart of the Twin Cities.

This wall cloud near Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport rolled quickly north through the Twin Cities Thursday afternoon.

Thankfully, the densely populated core of the Twin Cities narrowly escaped a possible tornado Thursday.

Severe storms also peppered central and northern Minnesota Thursday. Winds gusted to 72 mph in Thief River Falls!

Thursday’s well-advertised severe weather system produced at least seven preliminary tornado reports in Minnesota and Wisconsin. (See the map at the top of this post.)

The system also produced several large hail reports, including baseball-size hail in Altoona, Wis.

• 3 SSW Altoona [Eau Claire Co, WI] Broadcast Media reports Hail of baseball size (M2.75 Inch) at 4:18 PM CDT

• 3 SW Chippewa Falls [Chippewa Co, WI] Public reports Hail of egg size (M2.00 Inch) at 4:23 PM CDT -- Report from mPING: Hen Egg (2.00 in.).

• 3 S Eau Claire [Eau Claire Co, WI] Amateur Radio reports Hail of egg size (M2.00 Inch) at 4:11 PM CDT -- picture sent via NWSchat.

Cooler days ahead

Friday brings a blustery and much cooler northwest wind to Minnesota. Scattered wind-driven showers will spin through Minnesota around a low-pressure system Friday.

Westerly winds will gust to 30 mph Friday.

Right now, Sunday looks like the sunnier, nicer day this weekend.