Tornado and Flash Flood Watches Issued For Rochester Area

Rochester, MN (KROC-AM News) - A tornado watch has been issued for many of the same areas of southeastern Minnesota, northeast Iowa and western Wisconsin that are covered by a flash flood through 7 am tomorrow. The National Weather Service says the tornado watch will until 10 o’clock tonight.

The same storm system that’s predicted to produce torrential rains across the region could also produce severe storms into the late evening. Frequent lightning, heavy rain, and possible tornadoes are included in a forecast that also warns of the potential for dangerous flooding. The National Weather Service is still saying 3 to 6 inches of rain could fall in parts of the region, and areas of flood-weary west Wisconsin could end up with 8 inches of rain from the storm system.

The heaviest rains over the past 24 hours have been in western Wisconsin where there have been reports of 3 to 5 inches of rain. Most of the reports in the Rochester area, as of this afternoon, are in the one inch to an inch and a half range.