Severe storm blasts Minnesota overnight, leaving 170,000 without power

Massive power outages are being reported across the southern half of Minnesota following an overnight barrage of rain, hail and destructive winds.

Storms blasted into the Twin Cities early Sunday morning as they traveled southeast along the I-94 corridor. Hail the size of baseballs pounded the Monticello area, with trees reportedly uprooted in Sartell.

Around 170,000 customers were affected overnight, outage maps indicated, with the Twin Cities bearing the brunt of the impact. These outages have continued to persist well into the morning.

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West-central Minnesota and southeast Minnesota were also impacted, with thousands still without power in the Rochester area.

An 8:25 a.m. update from Xcel Energy says crews are working to restore power to more than 73,000 customers across the greater Twin Cities. However, the latest outage map shows that more than 137,300 are still without electricity in the metro:

More storms are possible in western Minnesota Sunday evening, while southeastern Minnesota and Wisconsin could be under the gun again on Monday.

You can check the status of the outages on Xcel Energy's website.