MINNEAPOLIS — Thursday is a NEXT Weather Alert day due to the potential for severe storms. After fast-moving overnight storms in the Twin Cities, a cold front is triggering a second round in the evening.

"Scattered severe thunderstorms are expected to develop across east-central MN this afternoon and move into western WI this evening," says the Twin Cities office of the National Weather Service. "Storms will primarily produce large hail with damaging winds and isolated tornadoes as secondary threats."

A front moving through the Upper Midwest will help to initiate shower and thunderstorm development on Thursday afternoon west of the Mississippi River.

A Severe Thunderstorm Watch is in effect until 10pm for parts of southern Minnesota and northern Iowa, including the Mankato/North Mankato area. We continue to track a cold front that has the potential to bring strong to severe thunderstorms to parts of southern Minnesota and northern Iowa this afternoon into this evening.

CBS News New York's Lonnie Quinn says the weekend is looking better, especially Sunday.

A cold front will spark showers & storms Thursday evening, with some storms that could be strong to possibly severe

Let's dive into Thursday's severe threat a bit more. NOAA's Storm Prediction Center has placed a sliver from north to south across the center of Minnesota, including in the Twin Cities, for a slight risk of severe storms.

Minnesota’s Weather Authority continues a Forecast First ALERT in forecast for Thursday EveningSTORMS: As a cold front moves across the state, storms are expected to develop in the early morning, then again in the afternoon and evening.