A tornado watch is in effect until 8 p.m. Thursday, May 15. The National Weather Service issued the watch for 21 Minnesota counties, including Stearns, Benton and Sherburne counties. The watch was issued shortly after 2:30 p.m. Thursday.

A tornado watch has been issued until 8 p.m. across all of central Minnesota and into northwest Wisconsin. The watch includes 35 counties in Minnesota, including the Twin Cities metro area, and 20 counties in Wisconsin,

Cities such as Chicago, Minneapolis and Milwaukee are at risk for a severe weather outbreak, forecasters said.