Why Storms Affected Minnesota on Memorial Day

Minnesota was one of many Midwestern states that saw violate weather on Memorial Day.  Temperatures in Minnesota were in the upper 60s to low 70s which rarely triggers severe storms.  Weather Eye Meterologist Cara Foster says the reason why Minnesota saw storms was the shifting of the jet stream which caused a shifting of precipitation.  That coupled with warm and humid temperatures in Iowa and Missouri led to a collision of cold and warm fronts.  Foster says Texas saw extreme high temperatures above 100 degrees over the weekend.  She believes the additional moisture in the atmosphere south of Minnesota pushed rain and storms our way.

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This combination led to non severe thunderstorms in northern Iowa and southern and central Minnesota.  Storms included strong winds, heavy rain and in some cases hail.  Parts of St. Cloud received pea size hail.  While my wife and I were traveling from Clinton, Missouri to St. Cloud Monday we encountered pockets of heavy rain, strong winds and experienced hail and flooding along I494 in Plymouth.  The storm caused backups and slowed traffic with many people choosing to find cover under over passes.

Iowa, Missouri, Arkansas, Oklahoma and Kansas have experienced a stretch of volatile weather this spring which led to tornado touchdowns in northern Iowa.  Missouri experienced tornado warnings in the St. Louis area Saturday.

If you'd like to listen to my conversation with Cara Foster, it is available below.