Alert archive / Minnesota / Severe Thunderstorm Watches in 2026

Severe Thunderstorm Watch 421

June 30, 20265 counties in Iowa; 25 counties in Minnesota; 11 counties in Wisconsin

The Storm Prediction Center issued this severe thunderstorm watch at Jun 30, 2026, 2:59 AM CDT for 5 counties in Iowa; 25 counties in Minnesota; 11 counties in Wisconsin. It was in force for 6 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
Jun 30, 2026, 2:59 AM CDT (07:59 UTC)
Expired
Jun 30, 2026, 9:07 AM CDT
In force
6 hr
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
Largest hail expected
1 in
Strongest gust expected
65 kt
All 41 counties

Emmet County, IA, Kossuth County, IA, Palo Alto County, IA, Winnebago County, IA, Worth County, IA, Blue Earth County, MN, Brown County, MN, Carver County, MN, Dakota County, MN, Dodge County, MN, Faribault County, MN, Fillmore County, MN, Freeborn County, MN, Goodhue County, MN, Hennepin County, MN, Le Sueur County, MN, Martin County, MN, Mower County, MN, Nicollet County, MN, Olmsted County, MN, Ramsey County, MN, Rice County, MN, Scott County, MN, Sibley County, MN, Steele County, MN, Wabasha County, MN, Waseca County, MN, Washington County, MN, Watonwan County, MN, Winona County, MN, Buffalo County, WI, Chippewa County, WI, Clark County, WI, Dunn County, WI, Eau Claire County, WI, Jackson County, WI, Pepin County, WI, Pierce County, WI, Saint Croix County, WI, Taylor County, WI, Trempealeau County, WI

The radar

The Minneapolis radar (KMPX), 67 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 07:59 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.

What SPC expected

The probabilities SPC published with the watch, for the watch area over its life.

Two or more tornadoes
10%
One or more EF2 to EF5 tornadoes
2%
Ten or more severe wind reports
50%
One or more gusts of 65 knots or more
30%
Ten or more severe hail reports
30%
One or more hailstones of 2 inches or more
20%
Six or more combined severe hail and wind reports
80%

Warnings issued inside it

5 tornado, severe thunderstorm and flash flood warnings for its counties while it was in force.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jun 30, 3:44 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMPXBlue Earth, Brown, Le Sueur, McLeod, Nicollet, Renville and 2 more30 min
Jun 30, 4:57 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMPXBlue Earth, Faribault, Freeborn, Waseca48 min
Jun 30, 5:31 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMPXFreeborn, Steele35 min
Jun 30, 7:23 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningARXTrempealeau35 min
Jun 30, 7:56 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningARXClark, Jackson64 min

Discussions around it

SPC mesoscale discussions over the same counties from four hours before the watch to its end.

The nearest sounding before it

Minneapolis, MN (KMPX), launched 00:00Z, 8.0 hours before the alert went out and 69 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 2026-06-30Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 4778 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 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 2026-06-30The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 177 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 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
4778 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-57 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1006 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
42 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
177 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
376 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
6.8
Supercell composite
41.5

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jun 29, 8:59 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCClay, Dickinson, Lyon, O'Brien, Osceola, Plymouth and 1 more91 min
Jun 29, 11:55 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCBuena Vista, Cherokee, Clay, Dickinson, Ida, Lyon and 5 more4 hr
Jun 30, 1:42 AM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCCherokee, Clay, Dickinson, Emmet, Lyon, O'Brien and 4 more93 min
Jun 30, 4:04 AM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCEmmet, Howard, Kossuth, Mitchell, Winnebago, Worth86 min
Jun 29, 7:25 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBecker, Benton, Cass, Clay, Crow Wing, Hubbard and 6 more2 hr
Jun 29, 7:48 PM CDTTornado WatchSPCAitkin, Becker, Beltrami, Carlton, Cass, Clearwater and 10 more6 hr
Jun 29, 10:04 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAitkin, Cass, Clearwater, Crow Wing, Hubbard, Kanabec and 3 more116 min
Jun 30, 7:54 AM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCHouston, Olmsted, Wabasha, Winona96 min
Jun 30, 2:51 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCWabasha2 hr
Jun 30, 3:19 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCDodge, Goodhue, Olmsted, Wabasha, Winona6 hr
Jun 29, 7:03 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCFlorence, Forest, Marinette, Oneida87 min
Jun 30, 8:38 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCBrown, Calumet, Door, Forest, Kewaunee, Langlade and 13 more3 hr
Jun 30, 10:34 AM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBrown, Calumet, Door, Kewaunee, Manitowoc, Menominee and 4 more116 min
Jun 30, 5:33 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBrown, Door, Kewaunee, Marinette, Menominee, Oconto and 2 more87 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Watches in Minnesota, 2026Severe Thunderstorm Watches in Wisconsin, 2026Severe Thunderstorm Watches in Iowa, 2026Every severe thunderstorm watch 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.