Faribault Sirens Not Sounded Due to Fast Storm Development

The outdoor notification sirens were never heard Tuesday during severe weather in Faribault because the storm apparently devloped right over the city.

That's what Rice County Emergency Management officials believe happened.

John Rowan, Deputy Rice County Emergency Management Director says when he looked at radar after seeing dark skies he saw nothing to indicate severe weather was about to happen.  Here is a capture of the radar at 1:27 p.m. from 1:24 p.m.

It was a rarity he stated because there was no indication we were about to be hit with severe weather.  "Usually you receive some notice from a neighboring county about what they are experiencing but in the Tuesday situation the storm developed in Faribault."

At 1:40 p.m. the cell was over Faribault and by 1:54 p.m. the radar shows the storm passed Faribault.

Here is a capture of the radar at 1:56 p.m. from 1:54 p.m.

Rowan says after every storm he likes to review what happened to see if something different could have been done.  In this case he is confident judging by what is seen the storm developed too quickly for a warning to be issued.

A downburst of straight-line winds is believed to be the culprit of all that damage. If you look at the extensive tree damage seen at Meadow Ridge Memorial Park Cemetery in Faribault all the trees were blown over from west to east or southwest to northeast indicating straight line winds.

Jennifer Hauer-Schmitz is Rice County Emergency Management Director.  Her office would love to have more damage reported from around the county so they can study this more and learn from it.

The National Weather Service will more than likely pay a visit to Rice County to view damage and make their determination.

There have been reports of a possible tornado seen about the time nine semis were blown off I-35 between Faribault and Medford.  It has not been confirmed yet.

Take a drive along Glynview Trail in southeast Faribault where a lot of mature trees were blown over in the high winds accompanied by hail on Tuesday.

This house is a block west of Bethlehem Academy in Faribault.  The owner says the power line was snapped but her power stayed on and houses across the street were without power.

This is probably a better photo to give you an idea of the size of the tree.

There were a lot of shingles blown off roofs along Glynview Trail and in a number of south Faribault neighborhoods.

Here are many other photos taken along Willow Street, Glynview Trail, in Walcott Township and southern Faribault.

Check this out.