67 MPH Wind Raked Downtown Rochester
Rochester, MN (KROC-AM New)- A list of the highest wind gusts reported to the National Weather Service across the east half of Minnesota on Wednesday shows downtown Rochester was visited by straight-line winds with the power of a weak tornado.
The 67 mile-per-hour gust recorded on the Mayo One helipad at St. Mary’s hospital shortly before 8am was the strongest in the state. Zumbro Falls was raked by a 60 mile-per-hour gust, while the highest gust at the Rochester Airport was 55 miles-per-hour.
Numerous other cities in southeastern Minnesota had gusts approaching or exceeding 50 miles-per-hour, which made driving a truck a challenging task. The State Patrol responded a stretch of Highway 63 south of Spring Valley this morning after a gust of wind tipped over a semi truck. The driver of the rig was not hurt.
The high winds were also blamed for power outages that darkened thousands of homes and businesses in the Twin Cities area, and damaged some of the exterior siding on U.S. Bank stadium in Minneapolis.
A wind advisory that was issued for the eastern half of Minnesota was finally allowed to expire at 4 o'clock Wednesday afternoon.
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