I've bought my first weather radio, mainly because of the ominous forecast (emphasis mine).
A WARM FRONT OVER IOWA WILL MOVE INTO SOUTHERN MINNESOTA BY EARLY
THIS AFTERNOON. THE WARM FRONT WILL ADVANCE NORTHWARD DURING THE
EVENING AND OVERNIGHT HOURS. SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ARE POSSIBLE
OVER SOUTHERN MINNESOTA TODAY WITH THE THREAT FOR SEVERE STORMS
SPREADING INTO CENTRAL MINNESOTA AND WEST CENTRAL WISCONSIN
TONIGHT. THERE IS AN INCREASING THREAT FOR TORNADOES ALONG THE
WARM FRONT THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING...ESPECIALLY ALONG AND SOUTH
OF A LINE FROM REDWOOD FALLS TO HASTINGS.
That would include me!
I bought my radio from the local Radio Shack, and the fella who helped me said he'd sold 3 in the first 45 minutes of business. I guess we're all reading the same headlines, more or less.
Here's the most recent severe storm likelihood picture from the SPC
Here's the tornado likelihood.
We have a 15% chance of having at least an EF0 tornado within 25 miles of any given point in the blue-outlined area, and a 10% chance of having an EF2 - EF5 within 25 miles of any given point in the blue hashed area. That would include my house!
Hail? Hail yes!
Other than tornadic activity, is there a wind damage threat? Yup.
There's a 60% chance of severe winds within 25 miles of any given point in these parts.
My flowers and potted tomatoes are already in cozy quarters, hopefully safe from the fun stuff. I reckon I better batten down the hatches and get the weather radio set up.
Update: the SPC has narrowed down the area with the largest chance of severe weather. Mankato is no longer in this area, but the likelihood is still there.