Mower County — as well as most of southeastern Minnesota — will be under a tornado watch until 10 p.m. tonight.
The National Weather Service in La Crosse, Wisconsin, issued the watch on Monday afternoon for a stretch of Minnesota from the Alexandria and Brainerd areas to the Iowa border and into western Wisconsin.
Temperatures reached into the low-60s early Monday ahead of a strong cold front that the NWS said will trigger showers and thunderstorms with damaging winds possible. The forecast prompted the service to issue a high wind advisory to begin at 7 p.m. and last until 6 p.m. Tuesday.
The strongest winds will develop this evening and continue overnight, with the highest winds occurring between 11 p.m. to 5 a.m. A second period of strong windows will occur from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. with gusts up to 45-50 mph at times.