Torrential rain forecast overnight into this morning was expected to give way for part of today before severe thunderstorms redevelop this afternoon.
The National Weather Service issued a flash flood watch for much of northern and central Minnesota and far Northwestern Wisconsin into today, and severe weather watches and warnings are likely into Saturday.
Some areas were expected to see 2-4 inches of rain overnight and early today, especially under heavy thunderstorms.
With the ground already saturated from Wednesday's rain, and with rainfall expected to fall very fast and hard, flash floods could occur near creeks and rivers, highway underpasses and culverts.
Even more rain is expected to hit later today, but a bigger threat will be development of "super-cell'' thunderstorms with high winds, large hail and even tornadoes possible.
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Yet another disturbance is forecast for Saturday when even more storms could develop, especially in the Arrowhead and Northwestern Wisconsin.
"Saturday looks to be just as potent a day as Friday,'' said Dan Miller, National Weather Service meteorologist in Duluth.
The extreme weather is being fed by moisture from the Gulf of Mexico and a string of low pressure disturbances that are moving through the area along a slow-moving warm front.
