Tornado, Murray
- When
- March 29, 3:50 PM CST to 3:55 PM CST
- Where
- Murray County, Avoca to 7 mi E of Avoca
- Rating
- F1
- Path length
- 2.5 mi
- Path width
- 900 yd
- Property damage
- $50,000
- Coordinates
- 43.950, -95.530
Tornadoes in Minnesota, March 29, 1998
A strong tornado which began in Murray County tracked across Cottonwood County and then further northeast. The tornado destroyed numerous farms, farm equipment, buildings, trees, power lines and poles, vehicles, and other structures in its path.
Where it happened
Every event with a place to put it. 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
The toll
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 3
- Property damage
- $30 million
- Crop damage
- None recorded
- Events
- 2
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 FSD wrote it up.
A strong tornado which began in Murray County tracked across Cottonwood County and then further northeast. The tornado destroyed numerous farms, farm equipment, buildings, trees, power lines and poles, vehicles, and other structures in its path. A vehicle was tossed a hundred yards as it hit the first farm in southwest Cottonwood County. People in the basement of the house on this farm received minor injuries. The tornado also destroyed a church near Jeffers, and destroyed numerous homes in the southern part of Comfrey, a city which is only partly in Cottonwood County.
The radar
The Sioux Falls radar (KFSD), 104 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 21:48 UTC.
Event by event
2 tornado. Local standard time, as filed.
Tornado, Cottonwood
- When
- March 29, 3:55 PM CST to 4:30 PM CST
- Where
- Cottonwood County, Westbrook to 5 mi N of Mountain Lake
- Rating
- F3
- Path length
- 39.5 mi
- Path width
- 900 yd
- Injuries
- 3 direct, 0 indirect
- Property damage
- $30 million
- Coordinates
- 43.980, -95.430
What these are
- 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
- Tornadoes and Hail in Minnesota, March 29, 1998
- Tornado in Minnesota, March 29, 1998
- Tornado in Minnesota, March 29, 1998
- Tornado and Hail in Minnesota, March 29, 1998
- Tornado in Minnesota, March 29, 1998
- Tornado and Hail in Wisconsin, March 29, 1998
- Tornado in Minnesota, March 29, 1998
- Hail and High Wind in Kansas, March 29 to 31, 1998
- Hail and Damaging Wind in Kansas, March 29, 1998
- Hail and Lightning Strike in Wisconsin, March 29, 1998
- Damaging Wind in South Dakota, March 29, 1998
- Hail in Minnesota, March 29, 1998
More
Every storm in Minnesota in 1998Every state in 1998This day in weather historyThe tornado archive for Minnesota, 1998Warnings in Minnesota, March 1998
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: 5632285, 5632286.