CHISAGO COUNTY, Minn. — Minnesota's first 80-degree day is coming with some baggage in tow.
Powerful thunderstorms from the Dakotas rolled across Minnesota and western Wisconsin Monday morning, bringing heavy rain, gusty wind and hail the size of tennis balls in some areas.
In Chisago County, thunderstorms were severe enough to knock down trees and topple power poles. District officials confirm that Chisago Lake High school was closed due to downed power lines, and Taylors Falls Elementary was shut down for the day due to a loss of power. No students or staff were injured in either incident.
Deputies and fire crews were sent out to survey and report damage, and say the northern part of Chisago County saw lots of hail, while wind was the major problem on the southern end.
The storm front moved through Minnesota and into western Wisconsin, where gusting winds also knocked trees down into power poles. Polk County Emergency Director Lisa McMahon told KARE 11 that the hardest-hit communities appeared to be Luck and Milltown. Barns were reported down along Polk County Highway 87.
And it most certainly was a bad morning for cabin owner Lars Ossmo on Long Lake in Centuria, Wisconsin. Ossmo said winds that blew through were so strong that they flipped his boat lift with a pontoon on it. The motor was ripped off the two-year-old Bennington pontoon, and the craft was tossed at least 100 feet from the dock it was next to.
Another storm system rolled through later in the afternoon, as the first 80-degree temperature of the season was recorded in the Twin Cities. The second round of storms brought multiple severe weather warnings to central Minnesota, including spotter reports of a tornado on the ground near Gilman in Benton County on Monday afternoon.
YOUR PHOTOS: Severe weather on May 9, 2022
A viewer sent in video of what appeared to be a small tornado forming in the sky above Menomonee, Wisconsin, and property owners in St. Croix County reported significant damage to homes, farms and other property.
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