Rain rolls through eastern North Dakota and western Minnesota Monday morning; more storms could arrive later

GRAND FORKS — A rain storm brought moisture to eastern North Dakota and western Minnesota on Monday morning, April 28, and more could be on the way later in the day. The possibility of a strong thunderstorm existed for the Red River Valley on Monday morning, but it didn't materialize. Instead, a steady rain began before sunup and continued through at least mid-morning.

ADVERTISEMENT Lydia Blume, a meteorologist with WDAY, said to expect "off-and-on thunderstorms as we continue throughout your Monday." She said a second round of potential storms could pass through the region Monday afternoon, with stronger storms more likely to form in the southern Red River Valley. "You can see that developing in the southern valley and then pushing its way into lakes country, through west-central Minnesota," she said during a Monday morning broadcast.



"This is the batch that look to be a little bit stronger — especially if we get some sunshine before this round starts to develop, as it kind of refuels the atmosphere." Later Monday afternoon, southeast North Dakota and west-central Minnesota could see hail, wind gusts up to 60-70 mph and even an isolated tornado threat, Blume said. According to the National Weather Service, the northern Red River Valley also could see storms that produce heavy rainfall later Monday, with 1 to 2 inches of rain possible.

No matter what happens with storms, winds will be prevalent — north winds could gust as high as 47 mph in the Grand Forks region later Monday afternoon, the National Weather Service predicts. Tuesday is expected to be sunny, with a high temperature in the 50s in places like Grand Forks, Fargo, Jamestown and Bemidji..