Friday night storm brings hail, high winds, heavy rain

Published 3:59 pm Friday, June 25, 2010

Freeborn County saw damaging storms again Friday night. There were no confirmed tornado touchdowns, but clouds were rotating, according to Freeborn County Sheriff Mark Harig. No injuries have been reported.

Hail and heavy rains were the cause of the most damage near Hartland and Freeborn. The elevator in Hartland was damaged and many power lines were down. Numerous windows broke on the north sides of homes.

Firefighters in Hartland were reporting some hail of golf ball size, most was quarter-sized but a few pieces were as big as a baseball. Power lines and trees had fallen.

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Heavy rain was an issue and East Main Street in Albert Lea was closed around 9:30 p.m. It has since been opened. The closest tornado reported was 16 miles southwest of Waseca. The county was in a tornado warning from 7:42 p.m. to 9:10 p.m. Friday.

The National Weather Service issued a flash flood watch from 7 p.m. Saturday until 7 a.m. Sunday. Heavy rainfall on Saturday night could lead to flooding in the already-saturated areas in southern Minnesota.