Minnesota State Fair employee Tom Koek was picking up fallen tree branches and loading them into a truck near the Lynne Lodge Bandshell Tuesday morning after several severe storms caused chaos at the fairgrounds and delayed the fair's opening.
The storm left more than 140,000 Twin Cities residents without power, though that number had decreased by Tuesday morning and Xcel Energy said “most customers” would have power restored by the end of Thursday. The storm, which struck with intensity across much of the metro and other parts of central Minnesota, knocked down numerous trees and caused other damage.
Koeck, who works in the operations division, said the fairgrounds in Falcon Heights were covered with debris “from north to south.” He was still cutting down trees and removing debris as customers finally began to arrive. For perhaps the first time in recent history, fair officials delayed opening hours for the day by two hours, from 7 a.m. to 9 a.m., to give employees and vendors time to clean up and repair damage.
(Erica Pearson/Minnesota Star Tribune)
A storm hit the Twin Cities and central Minnesota Monday evening with 60 mph winds — as strong as a tropical storm. A second storm moved through the metro around 6 a.m. Tuesday with similarly dangerous winds.
Brent Hewett, a Chanhassen-based meteorologist who was filling in on a shift at the National Weather Service office at the fairgrounds on Tuesday, said the storm Tuesday morning did the most damage to the fairgrounds. But bad weather on Monday forced the state fair to cancel the Happy Together Tour show at the grandstand. Those who stuck around were rewarded with a double rainbow and orange skies.
The weather service reported that storms on Monday knocked down large trees in Isanti, Maplewood, Chanhassen and Minneapolis, where radar indicated a 23-inch-diameter tree fell at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design. Winds gusted to more than 60 mph in Richfield, Eden Prairie and North St. Paul, and more than 50 mph in Deephaven and Plato.
Temperatures hovered around 90 degrees Monday and dew points were also very high, pushing the heat index above the 100-degree mark across southern Minnesota. The weather service reported that the most oppressive heat index — what it feels like — was 114 degrees in Albert Lea, while Carver and New Ulm were right behind with 113 degrees.
The official high heat index at Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport on Monday was 103 degrees. Tuesday was cooler and cloudy, and Wednesday is forecast to be partly sunny with a high of 79 degrees. Rain is also expected on Thursday.