Minnesota, 1997

Tornado in Minnesota, July 20 to 21, 1997

July 20 to 21, 1997 · NWS MPX · 8 events in 6 counties and zones

Atmospheric conditions resulted in a number of funnel clouds across south central Minnesota on July 20th and 21st. One of the funnel clouds touched down briefly north of Blooming Praire in eastern Steele county.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 7 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.

  • Tornadoes
  • Tropical storms and surge
  • Floods
  • Wind
  • Hail
  • Winter weather
  • Heat and drought
  • Cold
  • Fire, smoke and dust
  • Marine and coastal
  • Other

Open the live radar over this ground

The toll

Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
None recorded
Crop damage
None recorded
Events
8

Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.

What happened

The episode as NWS MPX wrote it up.

Atmospheric conditions resulted in a number of funnel clouds across south central Minnesota on July 20th and 21st. One of the funnel clouds touched down briefly north of Blooming Praire in eastern Steele county.

The radar

The Minneapolis radar (KMPX), 96 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 00:19 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

7 funnel cloud, 1 tornado. Local standard time, as filed.

Funnel Cloud, Steele

When
July 20, 5:00 PM CST to 5:30 PM CST
Where
Steele County, 3 mi E of Owatonna
Coordinates
44.022, -93.226 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Tornado, Steele

When
July 20, 6:20 PM CST
Where
Steele County, 2 mi N of Blooming Prairie
Rating
F0
Path length
0.1 mi
Path width
25 yd
Coordinates
43.900, -93.070

Funnel Cloud, Waseca

When
July 20, 6:30 PM CST
Where
Waseca County, 2 mi E of New Richland
Coordinates
44.022, -93.587 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Funnel Cloud, Freeborn

When
July 20, 7:30 PM CST to 8:30 PM CST
Where
Freeborn County, Clarks Grove
Coordinates
43.674, -93.349 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Funnel Cloud, Blue Earth

When
July 21, 3:10 PM CST
Where
Blue Earth County, 4 mi W of Mankato
Coordinates
44.035, -94.067 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Funnel Cloud, Brown

When
July 21, 3:22 PM CST
Where
Brown County, 1 mi S of New Ulm
Coordinates
44.242, -94.727 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Funnel Cloud, Faribault

When
July 21, 3:55 PM CST
Where
Faribault County, Walters
Coordinates
43.674, -93.948 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Funnel Cloud, Freeborn

When
July 21, 3:55 PM CST
Where
Freeborn County, Mansfield
Coordinates
43.674, -93.349 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

What these are

Funnel Cloud
A rotating column of cloud extending from a thunderstorm that did not reach the ground.
Tornado
A violently rotating column of air in contact with the ground and extending from a thunderstorm, filed with its path, width and Fujita or Enhanced Fujita rating from the damage survey.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in Minnesota in 1997Every state in 1997This day in weather historyThe tornado archive for Minnesota, 1997Warnings in Minnesota, July 1997

Sources

NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5615256, 5615257, 5615258, 5615259, 5615252, 5615253, 5615254, 5615255.