Alert archive / Minnesota / Severe Thunderstorm Watches in 2026
Severe Thunderstorm Watch 607
The Storm Prediction Center issued this severe thunderstorm watch at Aug 20, 2026, 6:07 PM CDT for 29 counties in Minnesota. It was in force for 6 hr.
The area
The outline as issued.
The facts
- Issued
- Aug 20, 2026, 6:07 PM CDT (23:07 UTC)
- Expired
- Aug 21, 2026, 12:00 AM CDT
- In force
- 6 hr
- Issued by
- the Storm Prediction Center
- Largest hail expected
- 2 in
- Strongest gust expected
- 60 kt
All 29 counties
Aitkin County, MN, Benton County, MN, Blue Earth County, MN, Brown County, MN, Carlton County, MN, Carver County, MN, Cass County, MN, Crow Wing County, MN, Isanti County, MN, Itasca County, MN, Kanabec County, MN, Kandiyohi County, MN, Le Sueur County, MN, McLeod County, MN, Meeker County, MN, Mille Lacs County, MN, Morrison County, MN, Nicollet County, MN, Pine County, MN, Redwood County, MN, Renville County, MN, Saint Louis County, MN, Scott County, MN, Sherburne County, MN, Sibley County, MN, Stearns County, MN, Todd County, MN, Watonwan County, MN, Wright County, MN
The radar
The Duluth radar (KDLH), 106 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 23:10 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
- 20%
- One or more EF2 to EF5 tornadoes
- 10%
- Ten or more severe wind reports
- 40%
- One or more gusts of 65 knots or more
- 20%
- Ten or more severe hail reports
- 40%
- One or more hailstones of 2 inches or more
- 30%
- Six or more combined severe hail and wind reports
- 80%
Warnings issued inside it
13 tornado, severe thunderstorm and flash flood warnings for its counties while it was in force.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 20, 6:16 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MPX | Redwood, Renville, Yellow Medicine | 44 min |
| Aug 20, 6:45 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | DLH | Aitkin, Cass, Crow Wing | 60 min |
| Aug 20, 6:48 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | DLH | Itasca, Saint Louis | 36 min |
| Aug 20, 6:58 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MPX | Redwood, Yellow Medicine | 47 min |
| Aug 20, 7:41 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | DLH | Aitkin, Carlton, Crow Wing, Pine | 64 min |
| Aug 20, 7:43 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MPX | Brown, Redwood | 39 min |
| Aug 20, 7:55 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MPX | Pope, Stearns | 50 min |
| Aug 20, 7:56 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MPX | Meeker, Stearns | 49 min |
| Aug 20, 8:21 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MPX | Brown, Redwood | 54 min |
| Aug 20, 8:34 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | DLH | Crow Wing | 56 min |
| Aug 20, 8:39 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | MPX | Meeker | 36 min |
| Aug 20, 9:12 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MPX | Morrison | 48 min |
| Aug 20, 9:15 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MPX | McLeod, Meeker, Wright | 17 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 12:00Z, 11.1 hours before the alert went out and 166 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.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 19 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -264 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 1140 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 29 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 70 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 139 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
The text
As transmitted.
562
WWUS20 KWNS 202305
SEL7
SPC WW 202305
MNZ000-210500-
URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
Severe Thunderstorm Watch Number 607
NWS Storm Prediction Center Norman OK
610 PM CDT Thu Aug 20 2026
The NWS Storm Prediction Center has issued a
* Severe Thunderstorm Watch for portions of
Minnesota
* Effective this Thursday night from 610 PM until Midnight CDT.
* Primary threats include...
Scattered large hail and isolated very large hail events to 2
inches in diameter possible
Scattered damaging wind gusts to 70 mph possible
A tornado or two possible
SUMMARY...Severe thunderstorms including some supercells should
continue to develop through early/mid-evening, with large hail and
damaging winds as the primary severe concerns, although a tornado
cannot be entirely ruled out.
The severe thunderstorm watch area is approximately along and 50
statute miles east and west of a line from 35 miles north of Hibbing
MN to 40 miles south southeast of Redwood Falls MN. For a complete
depiction of the watch see the associated watch outline update
(WOUS64 KWNS WOU7).
PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...
REMEMBER...A Severe Thunderstorm Watch means conditions are
favorable for severe thunderstorms in and close to the watch area.
Persons in these areas should be on the lookout for threatening
weather conditions and listen for later statements and possible
warnings. Severe thunderstorms can and occasionally do produce
tornadoes.
&&
OTHER WATCH INFORMATION...CONTINUE...WW 604...WW 605...WW 606...
AVIATION...A few severe thunderstorms with hail surface and aloft to
2 inches. Extreme turbulence and surface wind gusts to 60 knots. A
few cumulonimbi with maximum tops to 550. Mean storm motion vector
29025.
...GuyerSPC that day
Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 20, 5:31 PM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Aitkin, Anoka, Benton, Blue Earth, Brown, Carver and 37 more | 119 min |
Nearby
Severe Thunderstorm Watches in Minnesota, 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.