Hail piles up in multiple bouts of stormy weather June 23

BRAINERD — Multiple bouts of severe thunderstorms crossed Crow Wing County on Thursday night, June 23, bringing lightning, quarter-sized or larger hail, heavy rain and strong winds with them.

The National Weather Service issued near-continuous severe thunderstorm warnings for southern Crow Wing County for nearly four hours between 6-9:45 p.m. Parts of Cass, Morrison and Aitkin counties were also included in warned areas as storm after storm moved over the region. A severe thunderstorm watch began shortly before 5:30 p.m. for a larger swath of north-central and west-central Minnesota, extending through 1 a.m.

A flash flood warning entered the mix following heavy downpours in the Brainerd lakes area, with the weather service issuing the warning at 7:54 p.m. through 11 p.m. Thursday.

At least three separate periods of hail fell in Brainerd, while to the south, hail and heavy rain occurred multiple times. Winds appeared to be strong enough to cause tree damage as well, though the extent was not known Thursday night. A 51 mph wind gust just before 7 p.m. was recorded at the Brainerd Lakes Regional Airport, according to a preliminary report from the weather service.

Twitter user Egan Young, @avkid34, shared a video of a pile of hail collected near the side of the road, appearing like a snow pile in late June. He took the video near the intersection of County Highway 45 and 100th Street, about 2.5 miles south of the Crow Wing County Fairgrounds.

The severe weather also caused a significant drop in temperature at the airport. After hitting a high of 92 degrees shortly before 5 p.m. and staying at 90 degrees an hour later, the temperature fell to 72 degrees by 6:53 p.m.

Lakes Jam saw a number of stops and starts as lightning and hail caused delays in the musical performances.

1/9: Storms clouds Thursday, June 23, 2022, in the Brainerd lakes area.

2/9: Storms clouds Thursday, June 23, 2022, in the Brainerd lakes area.

3/9: Storms clouds Thursday, June 23, 2022, in the Brainerd lakes area.

4/9: Storms clouds Thursday, June 23, 2022, in the Brainerd lakes area.

5/9: Storms clouds Thursday, June 23, 2022, in the Brainerd lakes area.

6/9: Storm clouds Thursday, June 23, 2022, in the Brainerd lakes area.

7/9: Storm clouds Thursday, June 23, 2022, in the Brainerd lakes area.

8/9: Stormy weather makes an appearance at Lakes Jam on Thursday, June 23, 2022, at Brainerd International Raceway.

9/9: Lightning is seen in a storm cloud lit by the sunset Thursday, June 23, 2022, in Baxter, amid repeated severe thunderstorm warning issued by the National Weather Service in Duluth.

CHELSEY PERKINS, community editor, may be reached at 218-855-5874 or chelsey.perkins@brainerddispatch.com . Follow on Twitter at twitter.com/DispatchChelsey .