By Kari Lucin, staff writers

Most of Freeborn County cheered on the rain last night and this morning, despite the possibilities of flash floods, lightning, high winds and tornadoes.

Farmers suffering drought conditions and area residents who just wanted the sweltering heat to cool down were happy to get the rain, which came &045; as usual &045; just in time for the Freeborn County Fair.

Albert Lea received over 4 inches of rain between 10 p.m. Tuesday and 7:30 a.m. Wednesday, according to meteorologist Matt Friedlein of the National Weather Service. The caused minor flooding on Main Street and other side streets in Albert Lea. The area was under a flash flood watch from

7 p.m. to 7 a.m., but the dry ground slurped up rainwater so fast the watch wasn’t extended for later in the day despite the expectation of more rain to come.

No tornadoes were spotted in Freeborn County, and the storm’s high winds dropped from 60 mph gusts to 40 mph before hitting Albert Lea. It was almost as if the storm, which dropped tornadoes to the west, hit the brakes before crawling over Freeborn County.

Friedlein expected three more days of dry weather after today.

&8220;Temperatures are a lot cooler than they have been. A dryout is expected,&8221; Friedlein said.

The second Josh Gracin show at the Freeborn County Fair started 15 minutes early because fair officials were concerned about the weather. They stopped it 35 minutes into the show. Gracin wanted the show to go on, but lightning prevented it.

Rain fell lightly throughout the day Tuesday before the thunderstorm hit at night.

During the day, people at the fair brought out umbrellas and ponchos, and people without rain gear stayed under awnings, laughing and chatting with friends. The rain wasn’t so kind to food vendors.

&8220;When it’s raining, people aren’t going to be here,&8221; said Bruce Ness, who worked the Freeborn County American Dairy Association stand Tuesday.

Ness said more people came to the fair during the hot weather than when it was raining.

Elsewhere

Near Butterfield, Melinda Johnson said she saw a tornado drop from the sky with debris flying around 7 p.m. Tuesday as she grabbed her son and daughter and headed the dirt basement with her boyfriend.

It was only afterward that she saw the debris left after the twister ripped through her neighbor’s farm about three miles southwest of Butterfield, flattening nearly everything.

No one at Daniel and Terese Hall’s farm was injured, she said, but their house and barns were wrecked by the storm, Johnson said.

In addition to farming, the Halls operated Halls Across the Prairie, a business that sells beef, chicken, lamb and other farm products.

&8220;We actually saw the tornado touch down and thought it was coming for our house,&8221; Johnson said. &8220;We were a little scared. When it gets this close, you get shaken up.&8221;

Johnson said her house wasn’t damaged as far as she could tell in the dark. The storm had knocked out the electricity. Other nearby neighbors also reported no damage.

The Watonwan County Sheriff’s Office also reported buildings damaged on a farm south of St. James as severe thunderstorms moved through south-central Minnesota Tuesday evening.

Dean Karrau said an apparent tornado had caused severe damage at his grandfather’s farm six miles south of St. James.

Trained weather spotters reported three funnel touchdowns near Odin, Butterfield and South Branch, and a tornado watch was in effect until 1 a.m. Wednesday for south-central Minnesota.

Trees and power lines also were reported down south of St. James, authorities said.

By the time the storm moved east into Blue Earth County, Deputy Dave Karge said it had weakened to a heavy rainstorm.

The National Weather Service reported heavy rain in the Fairmont, Blue Earth, Albert Lea and Wells areas, with nearly 2 inches of rain falling within an hour in the Fairmont area and more rain expected.

&045; The Associated Press contributed to this story.