By Riley Moser

    MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- Many families across the Twin Cities metro and western Minnesota are finding themselves cleaning up Sunday after severe storms rolled in overnight.

Over 14,000 Xcel Energy customers are without power in the Twin Cities as of 12:20 p.m., according to the company's outage map. That's down from about 50,000 customers without power earlier in the morning. Xcel Energy says its crews are working as quickly and safely as possible to restore power.

Several trees came down on Highway 7 in the southwestern metro, blocking traffic in both directions for several hours. Power lines were also downed in the storm. The highway has since reopened.

The Swift County Sheriff's Office in west-central Minnesota reported a tornado touchdown five miles east of Halloway just before 8 p.m. on Saturday.

The Twin Cities National Weather Service issued the first tornado warning for the Twin Cities shortly after midnight Sunday that included cities such as Chanhassen, Waconia and Mound in the western metro. The NWS says it received reports of a tornado near Waconia, but has not confirmed it yet.

Another tornado warning was issued for parts of Minneapolis and the south and western metro around 12:30 a.m. The NWS allowed that warning to expire at 1 a.m. No tornadoes have been officially confirmed.

Many metro cities reported nearly an inch or more of rain falling overnight. More than 2 inches of rain fell in Elk River and Minneapolis received nearly 1.5 inches.

There's another chance for severe weather Sunday night, with the Twin Cities under a marginal risk (1 out of 5) and southeastern Minnesota under a slight risk (2 out of 5). Damaging winds and hail are the main threats, but isolated tornadoes are also possible.

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