The Twin Cities saw a short burst of rain Monday afternoon, which flooded some streets and businesses throughout the metro as storms brought the risk of tornadoes in other parts of the state.
Though the rain came and went within around 30 minutes in the Twin Cities, a humid atmosphere allowed the storm system to dump a huge amount of rain onto the area in a short time frame, according to Ryan Dunleavy, a meteorologist with the Twin Cities National Weather Service.
Dan Justesen, founder and owner of Utepils Brewing Co. in Minneapolis, shut down the taproom for the day after the rain overwhelmed the pumps that typically feed water into a nearby creek, flooding the basement of the building, the warehouse and the bathrooms.
“Because of the local conditions here, we ended up flooding out,” he said. “First time in our eight years that we’ve been open that this has happened.”
Dunleavy said other areas had seen flash flooding as well. And more thunderstorms and rain were expected into the evening, with the “main event” set to take place later.
“This would be like a downpour that you’d be more used to seeing in Florida than you would in Minnesota,” he said. “This is a very moist air mass, and thunderstorms fall quickly, and they’re able to drop a lot of rain in a very short amount of time.”
St. Paul officials said they hadn’t closed any roads due to flooding as of around 4:45 p.m. Minneapolis officials weren’t able to comment on whether any roads had closed due to flash flooding so far, but said crews monitor low-lying areas during heavy rain to keep storm drains clear.
Dunleavy, the meteorologist, advised anyone driving to check the forecast before heading out.
