By Per Peterson
A slow-moving storm that produced more rain and a confirmed tornado west of Marshall crawled through southwest Minnesota on Sunday evening.
Multiple severe weather alerts were issued — from severe thunderstorm and tornado warnings, to flash flood warnings since most of the ground in the region was already well saturated heading into the weekend. Spotters from Tracy and Balaton were called out at 5:08 p.m. and 5:20 p.m. on Sunday.
Heavy rain fell throughout Lyon County, as well as Murray County, which last week was placed under an emergency warning. Numerous low-lying roads in northern Murray County were under water by late Sunday.
Multiple storm cells erupted from eastern South Dakota, through southwest Minnesota over a three-hour span Sunday. In the Arco area, where the twister touched down, a tornado warning went into effect at 3:44 p.m. Another tornado warning was issued for northern Murray County, with the concentration of heaviest rains focused on the Slayton, Currie and Lake Shetek areas, as well as Garvin.
Areas of northern Murray County received anywhere from 2” of rain just south of Garvin, to 3” in Slayton and Lake Shetek. Balaton received 1.5 inches. Tracy received .24” Sunday and .35” Monday.