Severe weather sirens sounded shortly after noon Monday as heavy cloud rotation was spotted north and east of Glenville, as well as dark clouds just north of Albert Lea. Storm spotters were sent out for multiple areas. No funnels or tornado touchdowns were officially reported Monday, and spotters in some areas were reporting storm clearing as of 12:20 p.m.

Freeborn County Sheriff Kurt Freitag said the sirens were set off in Glenville and Albert Lea as a precaution based on a report made by a witness, who was not a confirmed trained spotter.

“We’re not going to double-guess someone,” Freitag said Tuesday. “If someone says they see a tornado on the ground, we’re going to sound the sirens as a precaution and we’ll figure it out later.”

As of almost 1 p.m. Monday, all area spotters were reportedly called back. A tornado warning was issued for Mower County through 1:30 p.m. Monday.

On Tuesday afternoon, three members of the National Weather Service arrived in the Glenville area and examined damage to trees and other vegetation and concluded an EF-0 tornado touched down near Glenville Beach, which is about 1 mile north of Glenville, Freitag said in a press release. Evidence showed the tornado traveled due north and was on the ground for less than 1 mile.  The weather service team estimated the wind speed at 85 mph, which would categorize the tornado at an EF-0.

There are still no reports of structure/property damage, according to Freitag.

While the flood watch issued by the National Weather Service expired Tuesday morning, the Freeborn County Sheriff’s Office has issued a no wake restriction on Freeborn County lakes effective immediately.

Thunderstorms may be possible Tuesday night across south and central Minnesota, the National Weather Service reported, but the threat for severe weather is low.