MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) – Severe thunderstorms are working their way from the northwest of Minnesota down across the state, ultimately expected to hit the Twin Cities. 

What to expect

Thunderstorms are expected to be strong to severe at times, with a severe thunderstorm watch in place until 1 a.m. Sunday for a large portion of the state, including most of the Twin Cities. 

These storms are moving toward the Twin Cities from the northwest. Damaging wind gusts from 60 to 70 mph and large hail of 1 to 2.5 inches in diameter are possible. These storms are moving south and east across central and southern Minnesota.

A tornado warning has been issued for Kandiyohi and Meeker counties until 10 p.m. There also is a severe thunderstorm warning issued for Carver, Hennepin and Wright counties until 10:30 p.m. Storms are moving southeast at 30 mph, with an expected wind gust of 60 mph. 

There is a severe thunderstorm warning in the areas of Litchfield, New London and Spicer until 9:45 p.m. The National Weather Service (NWS) says this storm could include golf ball-sized hail. 

There was a tornado warning in St. Cloud, Sauk Rapids and Waite Park Saturday night. 

Hail has been reported in Stearns County where there was a tornado warning. 

These storms are expected to dissipate by midnight Saturday, leading into a calm Sunday. 

Hail and storm damage

As severe storms hit across Minnesota, coming from the northwest into the Twin Cities Saturday, large hail fell in many parts of the state. 

Storm damage in Melrose

Damage from severe storms hit Melrose, Minnesota Saturday evening from strong winds. 

Power outages

A large cluster of roughly 2,300 power outages was reported near Albany, Minnesota at about 8:45 p.m., but most of those outages were resolved and power restored before 10 p.m. Another cluster of about 2,500 outages was reported at about 9:40 p.m. between Forest Lake and Wyoming. Check the Xcel outage map here. 

Walmart and Reynolds Consumer Products have agreed to stop selling certain plastic bags in Minnesota for two and a half years, after the state’s attorney general, Keith Ellison, argued in court that the companies had falsely marketed them as recyclable.

Reynolds makes the blue or clear 13- and 30-gallon-sized Hefty-brand plastic bags that Ellison targeted in the lawsuit, filed in June 2023 in Ramsey County District Court. The lawsuit also made similar claims against 13-, 30- and 33-gallon bags sold under Walmart’s Great Value brand.

If Walmart or Reynolds resume selling the bags after the moratorium, they must be labeled as non-recyclable, according to the settlement agreements with Walmart and Reynolds reached Thursday.

The two companies have agreed to pay a collective total of $216,670, which includes 100 percent of the profits they made in selling the bags, the state’s attorney fees and other monetary relief, according to a press release from Ellison’s office.

“Defendants shall establish and enforce marketing claims legal review processes and provide anti-greenwashing trainings to their marketing teams at least annually,” according to the settlement document.

In a written statement, Reynolds said: “We believe these claims lack merit, but are pleased to put this matter behind us. We remain committed to our sustainability mission to develop innovative products and solutions that simplify daily life and protect the environment.”

A Walmart spokeswoman declined to comment on the settlement.

“Minnesotans have one of the highest recycling rates in America because we love our clean land, air, and water,” Ellison said in the press release. 

“I’m pleased that Reynolds and Walmart, who profited from Minnesotans’ good intentions, have agreed to stop marketing so-called ‘recycling’ bags to us that can’t be recycled and will disgorge the profits they made off those bags,” he said. “Any other companies thinking about greenwashing their products to market them deceptively to Minnesotans should know by now that I will not hesitate to hold them accountable under the law.”

The Minnesota lawsuit is among nearly four dozen filed since 2015, mostly by citizens or environmental groups, that target the plastics industry, according to a plastics litigation tracker at The New York University School of Law.

But more recently, attorneys general in Connecticut, Minnesota and New York have raised the stakes with their own plastics lawsuits, bringing with them considerable legal firepower. 

The litigation comes amid a rapidly expanding body of scientific knowledge detailing how burgeoning plastics production and plastic waste damage the planet and threaten public health. 

Plastics are made with thousands of chemicals and were never designed to be recycled. Recycling rates in the United States are thought to be less than 10 percent. Bags are among the harder items to recycle, and their film-like and flimsy nature can clog recycling equipment.

Ellison had argued that Walmart’s and Reynolds’ marketing had violated state laws that prohibit false statements in advertising, deceptive environmental marketing and consumer fraud. The settlement agreement included a provision that it should not be considered an admission of guilt or violation by the defendants.

The lawsuit showed photos of marketing that Ellison claimed were intended to falsely persuade Minnesotans that the bags were meant for use during recycling and could be recycled. Some of them were a blue color associated with some recycling programs and included a declaration that those were “intended for use in municipal recycling programs where applicable,” according to the lawsuit.

Certain clear bags, the lawsuit claimed, were identified as “transparent for quick sorting and curbside identification.” Reynolds also prominently placed the all-caps word “RECYCLING” on the front label of Hefty “Recycling” trash bags, with packaging that showed an image of a clear bag filled with plastic and these words, the lawsuit alleged: “HEFTY RECYCLING BAGS ARE PERFECT FOR ALL YOUR RECYCLING NEEDS.”

Royce Lewis hit a two-run homer and a two-run double and the Twins plated six runs in the eighth inning to power their way to a 10-2 victory over the struggling Chicago White Sox Friday night in front of an announced crowd of 30,801 at Target Field in downtown Minneapolis.

Lewis hit the two-run homer in the first inning for the first two runs of the day and put the Twins back in the lead with a two-run double in the third, going 2 for 4 overall with a walk and the four RBIs.

Lewis’ third-inning double gave the Twins a 4-2 lead that held until the eighth inning when Christian Vazquez hit a two-run double and Willi Castro hit a two-run homer the next at-bat. After Trevor Larnach was walked, Byron Buxton hit another two-run shot that gave the Twins a 10-2 advantage.

Twins starter Joe Ryan, meanwhile, did a nice job keeping the White Sox (27-85) relatively quiet through 6 1/3 innings. His lone blemish was surrendering a two-run homer to Miguel Vargas during the third inning, but he allowed just three hits and two runs overall while fanning seven.

The loss was the White Sox’s 18th straight.

Vargas’ third-inning homer knotted the game at 2-2 after Lewis put the Twins (60-48) ahead with his 409-foot, two-run blast right away in the first inning. But Lewis wasted no time putting the Twins back ahead, either, hitting the two-run double in the bottom of the third inning for a 4-2 Twins lead. 

White Sox starter Davis Martin, who recently returned from Tommy John surgery and slid into the rotation for the first time since Chicago traded starter Erick Fedde, allowed the four runs off five hits while fanning five across 3 2/3 innings of work. The White Sox bullpen held the Twins in check for the next 3 1/3 innings, but the Twins beat up on Steven Wilson and Prelander Berroa in the eighth.

Jorge Alcala relieved Ryan with one out and one on during the sixth inning and sent the next two batters down in order. Griffin Jax pitched a 1-2-3 eighth inning and recently-acquired reliever Trevor Richards sent the White Sox down in order in the ninth to close out a convincing victory.

The Twins and White Sox meet for the second of their three-game series at 6:10 p.m. Saturday.