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A series of severe thunderstorms hit much of Minnesota, including the Twin Cities, early Friday evening, dumping large hail in the center of the metro, flooding streets and cutting power to thousands of people. The National Weather Service relayed reports of golf ball-sized or larger hail in Minneapolis and St. Francis. Ping-pong ball-sized hail was reported in Plymouth, Rockford, Golden Valley and Robbinsdale. A meteorologist near Dassel, west of the metro area, reported 3-inch hail. And in many other communities, smaller hail tore off leaves, accumulated on lawns and washed into drains and gutters along with heavy rain. Streets were flooded in parts of the Twin Cities as storm drains failed to handle the flooding. Heavy rains occurred in areas of the state that have been in drought conditions for months . In St. Paul, wind gusts of 68 miles per hour were reported as storms raged between 5:30 and 6 p.m. Immediately after the storm, Xcel Energy and other utilities rep
