Alert archive / Minnesota / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 2026

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 1, NWS Twin Cities, MN

April 12, 2026Freeborn County, Minnesota

NWS Twin Cities, MN issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Apr 12, 2026, 3:12 AM CDT for Freeborn County, Minnesota. It was in force for 22 min. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
Apr 12, 2026, 3:12 AM CDT (08:12 UTC)
Expired
Apr 12, 2026, 3:34 AM CDT
In force
22 min
Issued by
NWS Twin Cities, MN
Area
Storm-based polygon
Hail
1.25 in
Wind
50.0 mph

County Freeborn County, MN

The radar

The Minneapolis radar (KMPX), 143 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 08:15 UTC, the scan nearest the moment this went out.

Open the radar archive at this moment

The archived warnings, watches and discussions in force at that minute are drawn over the scan, this one among them.

Did it verify

Not verified. The Iowa Environmental Mesonet's Cow found no qualifying storm report inside this severe thunderstorm warning while it was in force. That is not proof nothing happened: reports are thin where few people live.

Cow counts a report within 15 km of the polygon while the warning was in force: a tornado for a tornado warning; hail of 1 inch or more, a gust of 58 mph or more or wind damage for a severe thunderstorm warning; a flash flood report for a flash flood warning.

The nearest sounding before it

Minneapolis, MN (KMPX), launched 00:00Z, 8.2 hours before the alert went out and 143 km from the middle of its area. This is the routine balloon launch nearest before it, the air the forecaster had in hand, not a measurement taken for the alert.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Minneapolis, MN at 00:00Z on 2026-04-12Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 joules per kilogram.LCL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Minneapolis, MN at 00:00Z on 2026-04-12The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 652 square meters per square second.19395878Sfc1 km3 km6 km9 kmRMLM
The wind turning with height, colored by layer: ground to 1 km, 1 to 3 km, 3 to 6 km, 6 to 10 km.
Mixed-layer CAPE
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
528 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
41 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
652 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
891 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

As transmitted.

452 
WUUS53 KMPX 120812
SVRMPX
MNC047-120845-
/O.NEW.KMPX.SV.W.0001.260412T0812Z-260412T0845Z/

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
Severe Thunderstorm Warning
National Weather Service Twin Cities/Chanhassen MN
312 AM CDT Sun Apr 12 2026

The National Weather Service in the Twin Cities has issued a

* Severe Thunderstorm Warning for...
  Southern Freeborn County in south central Minnesota...

* Until 345 AM CDT.

* At 312 AM CDT, a severe thunderstorm was located near Emmons, or 15
  miles southwest of Albert Lea, moving northeast at 40 mph.

  HAZARD...Half dollar size hail.

  SOURCE...Broadcast media reported.

  IMPACT...Damage to vehicles is expected.

* This severe thunderstorm will be near...
  Emmons around 320 AM CDT. Twin Lakes around 325 AM CDT. Albert Lea
  and Glenville around 335 AM CDT. Hayward around 340 AM CDT.

Other locations impacted by the severe thunderstorm include Myre Big
Island State Park and Albert Lea Airport.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

Seek shelter inside a well-built structure and stay away from
windows. This storm has produced large hail.

&&

LAT...LON 4353 9365 4375 9335 4359 9317 4350 9337
      4350 9365
TIME...MOT...LOC 0811Z 230DEG 35KT 4348 9358

HAIL THREAT...OBSERVED
MAX HAIL SIZE...1.25 IN
WIND THREAT...RADAR INDICATED
MAX WIND GUST...<50 MPH

$$

Borghoff
2 follow-up statements
395 
WWUS53 KMPX 120826
SVSMPX

Severe Weather Statement
National Weather Service Twin Cities/Chanhassen MN
326 AM CDT Sun Apr 12 2026

MNC047-120845-
/O.CON.KMPX.SV.W.0001.000000T0000Z-260412T0845Z/
Freeborn MN-
326 AM CDT Sun Apr 12 2026

...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 345 AM CDT FOR
SOUTHWESTERN FREEBORN COUNTY...

At 326 AM CDT, a severe thunderstorm was located over Emmons, or 9
miles southwest of Albert Lea, moving northeast at 35 mph.

HAZARD...Quarter size hail.

SOURCE...Radar indicated.

IMPACT...Damage to vehicles is expected.

This severe thunderstorm will be near...
  Twin Lakes, Emmons and Conger around 330 AM CDT. Albert Lea and
  Glenville around 340 AM CDT.

Other locations impacted by the severe thunderstorm include Myre Big
Island State Park and Albert Lea Airport.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

Seek shelter inside a well-built structure and stay away from
windows. This storm is capable of producing large hail.

&&

LAT...LON 4375 9335 4360 9319 4354 9329 4350 9337
      4350 9352 4356 9360
TIME...MOT...LOC 0812Z 228DEG 30KT 4347 9360

HAIL THREAT...RADAR INDICATED
MAX HAIL SIZE...1.00 IN
WIND THREAT...RADAR INDICATED
MAX WIND GUST...<50 MPH

$$

Borghoff
031 
WWUS53 KMPX 120834
SVSMPX

Severe Weather Statement
National Weather Service Twin Cities/Chanhassen MN
334 AM CDT Sun Apr 12 2026

MNC047-120844-
/O.CAN.KMPX.SV.W.0001.000000T0000Z-260412T0845Z/
Freeborn MN-
334 AM CDT Sun Apr 12 2026

...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING IS CANCELLED FOR SOUTHWESTERN FREEBORN
COUNTY...

The storm which prompted the warning has weakened below severe
limits, and no longer poses an immediate threat to life or property.
Therefore, the warning has been cancelled. However, small hail is
still possible with this thunderstorm.

&&

LAT...LON 4375 9335 4360 9319 4354 9329 4350 9337
      4350 9352 4356 9360
TIME...MOT...LOC 0826Z 228DEG 30KT 4355 9348

$$

Borghoff

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this severe thunderstorm warning went out, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

NWS Twin Cities, MN wrote its last area forecast discussion before this severe thunderstorm warning went out at Apr 12, 12:43 AM CDT, 2 hours 29 minutes earlier. Its key messages:

  • Big warmup arrives tomorrow through the remainder of the week.
  • A few strong to severe storms are possible tomorrow afternoon for western Wisconsin. A better chance for severe storms for much of south central Minnesota/western Wisconsin is expected Monday and possibly again on Tuesday.
Area forecast discussion, Apr 12, 12:43 AM CDT, 2 hours 29 minutes before
Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Twin Cities/Chanhassen MN
1243 AM CDT Sun Apr 12 2026

.KEY MESSAGES...

- Big warmup arrives tomorrow through the remainder of the week.

- A few strong to severe storms are possible tomorrow afternoon
  for western Wisconsin. A better chance for severe storms for
  much of south central Minnesota/western Wisconsin is expected
  Monday and possibly again on Tuesday.

&&

.DISCUSSION...
Issued at 238 PM CDT Sat Apr 11 2026

It's a cool and damp Saturday as scattered showers continue to
slide eastward across Minnesota and Wisconsin. These showers and
maybe a rumble of thunder will continue into the evening and
overnight hours, especially for portions of western Wisconsin. A
southwesterly LLJ will kick in this evening, sending a plume of
Gulf moisture northward. Continued cloud cover and very strong
WAA will allow temperatures to gradually increase overnight. A
majority of the forecast area will likely be sitting with both
temperatures and dew points in the upper 50s to low 60s by
morning. We'll have to see how quickly clouds clear out Sunday,
but it seems likely that highs will be some 30 degrees warmer
than today in the upper 70s and low 80s. Winds will turn from
the south to the west by the afternoon, which will work to lower
dew points by 5 to 10 degrees for western Minnesota. There's a
chance that portions of our far southwest see min RH values fall
below 30% during the afternoon and evening with wind gusts
approaching 30 MPH, but for now, it appears that the risk for
elevated fire weather conditions will remain back across the
Dakotas. To the east where Tds remain in the 60s, there is a
question of whether any afternoon convection will be able to
develop. A lot rides on the timing of a weak shortwave and how
long morning showers and clouds stick around. Still, CAMs have
CAPE values AOA 1500 J/kg and ample shear, so a stronger storm
or two is a possibility, especially for western Wisconsin. SPC
has a Marginal Risk in the SWODY2 that covers this threat.

A more favorable severe weather set up is still in the cards for
Monday. A warm front will lift northward during the afternoon with
PWATs increasing to around 1", which is around 200% of normal. Mid
level lapse rates are impressive, but strong capping may limit storm
development initially. There is a fair amount of spread in the
guidance in how far northward the warm front will push, with the
AIFS keeping southern Minnesota in the low to mid 60s and the RRFS
taking upper 70s as far north as St. Cloud. All of this to say,
there is still a high degree of uncertainty in the forecast for
Monday. Tuesday looks like a similar scenario, but likely even
further south and east of our CWA. But again, some strong to severe
storms can't be ruled out entirely at this point. The remainder of
the week remains mild with temperatures in the 70s. We'll see
continued chances for showers and thunderstorms throughout the work
week. Looking ahead, a stronger system may be in the works for the
weekend and I can't guarantee that all precip associated with
this will fall as liquid...

&&

.AVIATION /06Z TAFS THROUGH 06Z MONDAY/...
Issued at 1233 AM CDT Sun Apr 12 2026

Showers continue over western WI overnight. The arrival of the
low level jet will lead to the inclusion of WS in all TAF sites
tonight. There will likely be another round of storms
developing around 10z just east of MKT that pushes into WI in
around daybreak this morning. I've tweaked the PROB30 -TSRA
sites, but additional tweaks may be necessary overnight.
Fog will continue to spread across portions of central MN
overnight with most sites in IFR through sunrise. For Sunday, a
dryslot will be moving east across MN that will quickly clear
skies and shift winds to the SW by Sunday afternoon. This will
lead to a quick improvement from IFR to VFR late morning into
early afternoon time frame. I've tweaked the clearing timing
across our MN sites, but the timing of our dryline boundary
remains uncertain. W WI sites will stay in the lower MVFR clouds
through mid- afternoon before scattering out. Wind gusts will
peak in the 30 to 35 knot range this afternoon, but gusts should
fall off after sunset this evening.

KMSP... Latest trends suggest the secondary round of TS will
stay to our southeast this morning. For this afternoon, we'll
have a favorable pattern for a southwest cross-wind. Also,
we'll have very deep mixing (possibly pushing 10k feet), so
these will be very gusty cross winds, with sporadic wind gusts
to 40 kts not out of the question given momentum transfer via
forecast soundings.

/OUTLOOK FOR KMSP/
MON...AM VFR. PM -RA likely, chc MVFR/-TSRA. Wind E 5-10 kts.
TUE...VFR. MVFR/-SHRA likely late. Wind NE 5-10 kts.
WED...VFR. Wind lgt and vrb.

&&

.MPX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
MN...None.
WI...None.

&&

DISCUSSION...Dye
AVIATION...BPH
Hazardous weather outlook, Apr 11, 9:53 PM CDT, 5 hours 19 minutes before
Hazardous Weather Outlook
National Weather Service Twin Cities/Chanhassen MN
953 PM CDT Sat Apr 11 2026

MNZ053-060>063-068>070-076>078-084-085-092-093-WIZ014>016-023>028-
130300-
Chisago-Hennepin-Anoka-Ramsey-Washington-Carver-Scott-Dakota-
Le Sueur-Rice-Goodhue-Waseca-Steele-Faribault-Freeborn-Polk-
Barron-Rusk-St. Croix-Pierce-Dunn-Pepin-Chippewa-Eau Claire-
953 PM CDT Sat Apr 11 2026

This Hazardous Weather Outlook is for portions of east central
Minnesota...south central Minnesota...southeast Minnesota...
northwest Wisconsin and west central Wisconsin.

.DAY ONE...Tonight.

Isolated to scattered thunderstorms are expected through the night.
Some small hail and brief downpours will be possible with the
strongest storms, primarily in western Wisconsin.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...Sunday through Friday.

Scattered thunderstorms can be expected Monday and Tuesday. A few
storms may be strong to severe, potentially producing large hail,
damaging wind gusts or a tornado. Some storms may also produce
heavy rain.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

SKYWARN spotter activation will not be needed tonight.

MNZ041>045-047>052-130300-
Douglas-Todd-Morrison-Mille Lacs-Kanabec-Stevens-Pope-Stearns-
Benton-Sherburne-Isanti-
953 PM CDT Sat Apr 11 2026

This Hazardous Weather Outlook is for portions of central
Minnesota...east central Minnesota and west central Minnesota.

.DAY ONE...Tonight.

Areas of dense fog, with visibilities of a quarter of a mile or
less is expected to develop across central Minnesota tonight.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...Sunday through Friday.

Scattered thunderstorms can be expected Monday and Tuesday. A few
storms may be strong to severe, potentially producing large hail,
damaging wind gusts or a tornado. Some storms may also produce
heavy rain.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

SKYWARN spotter activation will not be needed tonight.

MNZ054>059-064>067-073>075-082-083-091-130300-
Lac Qui Parle-Swift-Chippewa-Kandiyohi-Meeker-Wright-
Yellow Medicine-Renville-McLeod-Sibley-Redwood-Brown-Nicollet-
Watonwan-Blue Earth-Martin-
953 PM CDT Sat Apr 11 2026

This Hazardous Weather Outlook is for portions of central
Minnesota...south central Minnesota...southwest Minnesota and
west central Minnesota.

.DAY ONE...Tonight.

No hazardous weather is expected at this time.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...Sunday through Friday.

Temperatures in the 80s, gusty southwest winds, and low afternoon
relative humidity values will lead to evelvated fire weather
conditions in southwest Minnesota Sunday afternoon.

Scattered thunderstorms can be expected Monday and Tuesday. A few
storms may be strong to severe, potentially producing large hail,
damaging wind gusts or a tornado. Some storms may also produce
heavy rain.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

SKYWARN spotter activation will not be needed.

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Apr 12, 2:17 AM CDT, 55 minutes before
Special Weather Statement
National Weather Service Twin Cities/Chanhassen MN
217 AM CDT Sun Apr 12 2026

MNZ092-120800-
Faribault MN-
217 AM CDT Sun Apr 12 2026

...A LINE OF STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WILL IMPACT FARIBAULT COUNTY UNTIL
3 AM CDT...

At 217 AM CDT, Doppler radar was tracking a line of strong
thunderstorms extending from 6 miles west of Elmore to 11 miles south
of Elmore, or extending from 15 miles southeast of Fairmont to 26
miles southeast of Fairmont, moving northeast at 35 mph.

HAZARD...Half inch size hail.

SOURCE...Radar indicated.

IMPACT...Minor damage to outdoor objects is possible.

Locations impacted include...
  Blue Earth, Wells, Elmore, Bricelyn, Easton, Frost, Delavan and
  Brush Creek.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

Monitor the weather situation closely and be alert for threatening
weather conditions.

&&

LAT...LON 4357 9425 4385 9405 4385 9396 4370 9365
      4369 9365 4350 9378 4350 9425
TIME...MOT...LOC 0717Z 219DEG 31KT 4353 9421 4344 9418 4334 9413

MAX HAIL SIZE...0.50 IN
MAX WIND GUST...<30 MPH

Borghoff
Special weather statement, Apr 12, 3:00 AM CDT, 12 minutes before
Special Weather Statement
National Weather Service Twin Cities/Chanhassen MN
300 AM CDT Sun Apr 12 2026

MNZ084-092-093-120845-
Waseca MN-Faribault MN-Freeborn MN-
300 AM CDT Sun Apr 12 2026

...A LINE OF STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WILL IMPACT SOUTHERN WASECA...
EASTERN FARIBAULT AND FREEBORN COUNTIES UNTIL 345 AM CDT...

At 300 AM CDT, Doppler radar was tracking a line of strong
thunderstorms extending from over Minnesota Lake to 13 miles south of
Mansfield, or extending from 24 miles northwest of Albert Lea to 24
miles southwest of Albert Lea, moving northeast at 35 mph.

HAZARD...Penny size hail.

SOURCE...Radar indicated.

IMPACT...Minor damage to outdoor objects is possible.

The strong thunderstorm will be near...
  Minnesota Lake and Bricelyn around 300 AM CDT. Wells around 305 AM
  CDT. Mansfield around 310 AM CDT. Alden, Emmons, Conger and
  Freeborn around 320 AM CDT. Twin Lakes and Hartland around 325 AM
  CDT.

Other locations impacted by this strong thunderstorm include Kiester,
Brush Creek, Walters, Baroda and Matawan.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

This storm may intensify, so be certain to monitor local radio
stations and available television stations for additional information
and possible warnings from the National Weather Service.

&&

LAT...LON 4350 9381 4356 9388 4384 9387 4385 9385
      4385 9377 4388 9377 4400 9348 4391 9341
      4385 9341 4385 9336 4380 9332 4350 9314
TIME...MOT...LOC 0759Z 240DEG 31KT 4381 9380 4359 9380 4352 9370 4340
9370

MAX HAIL SIZE...0.75 IN
MAX WIND GUST...<30 MPH

Borghoff

The office that day

Everything else NWS Twin Cities, MN issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Apr 12, 2:17 AM CDTSpecial Weather StatementMPXFaribault43 min
Apr 12, 3:00 AM CDTSpecial Weather StatementMPXFreeborn45 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Minnesota, 2026Every severe thunderstorm warning in 2026

Sources

The product and its follow-ups from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service and Storm Prediction Center text; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.