Damage limited in outbreak of storms

Storms with lightning and hail and at least one observed tornado moved across southern Minnesota Monday amid the potential for strong tornadoes.

Forecasters had expected two rounds of severe weather, in the morning and then later in the day, with the possibility of tornadoes in the EF-2 range or greater.

The National Weather Service in the Twin Cities said Monday afternoon that it had a report of an observed tornado in Martin County, west of Fairmont.

Pea- to marble-size hail pelted parts of Faribault County and rain was heavy, Sheriff Scott Adams said.

“A heavy downpour — it became extremely dark out,” he said.

The NWS reported receiving multiple reports of tornadoes near Winnebago. But Adams said the reports weren’t confirmed and there appeared to be no damage as of Monday evening.

NWS meteorologist Melissa Dye said weather spotters likely saw “gustnados,” which are small whirlwinds that form during thunderstorms but are not connected to a cloud base, like a tornado. She said they can look like tornadoes because of the way they kick up dust and debris.

The NWS also received a spotter’s report of a funnel cloud forming near Kiester, southwest of Albert Lea.

The agency also received reports of a barn and silos destroyed and a warehouse damaged by high wind in Kenyon, east of Faribault.

The Minneapolis-St. Paul area appeared to largely skirt the worst of the rough weather.

— Associated Press

Sharett’s Liquors changing hands

Jim Forsland and Dana Rose, longtime Sharrett’s Liquors co-owners, are retiring and have sold the business to new owners, who plan to briefly close the store for renovation before reopening in early summer.

The final day of operation for the current iteration of Sharrett’s — and Forsland and Rose’s final day behind the counter — is Tuesday. Nearly every bottle in the store, located at 2389 University Ave., is on sale.

From behind the cashier’s counter Monday afternoon, Forsland confirmed his plans to step away but declined to share further details. The new owners are unaffiliated with Sharrett’s as it stands now, he said, but he did not name them. Attempts to reach the building’s owner, who Forsland said has been involved in the transition, were unsuccessful.

As far as Forsland knows, he said, the new owners plan to keep the space as a liquor store but remodel and reorganize it, and reopen in late May or June.

Forsland and Rose took over the store in 1976 from Rose’s father, Ben Rose, who himself had been running the place as a combination liquor store-pharmacy since about 1949. Previously, it had been predominantly a pharmacy and had at one point had been owned by Edward Sharretts, after whom it’s named. Under Forsland and Rose, the store also developed something of a cult reputation for giving change in $2 bills.

— Jared Kaufman