3 tornado, 1 funnel cloud, 1 hail, as filed by the National Weather Service.
Every event with a place to put it; 1 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.
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.
The local office's own words before the first event, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.
NWS Twin Cities, MN wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at May 18, 1:30 PM CST, 4 hours 15 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TWIN CITIES/CHANHASSEN MN 230 PM CDT WED MAY 18 2005 .DISCUSSION... SEVERE HAIL AND WIND THREAT UNTIL 19/00Z PER WW286. FORECAST SOUNDINGS IN WEST CENTRAL INTO SOUTH CENTRAL MN SHOW SUFFICIENT CAPE FOR SEVERE HAIL. DCAPE HAS BEEN ON THE INCREASE...AND DRY INTRUSION FROM THE SOUTHWEST SHOULD ASSIST ATMOSPHERE IN REACHING DCAPE VALUES SUFFICIENT FOR SVR WND...BUT MOSTLY LOW END SVR...THREAT. VIGOROUS NEGATIVELY TILTED 700 MB TROUGH MOVING ACROSS AREA TONIGHT INTO THU MORNING. THIS SUPPORTS HIGH POPS ESPECIALLY EASTERN CWA TONIGHT. RATHER ANOMALOUS SEWD MOVEMENT OF SFC LOW AND 700 MB LOW FORECAST BY NAM AND GFS...BUT CAN BELIEVE THIS GIVEN 300 MB ISOTACH MAX ON SOUTHWEST SIDE OF 700 MB LOW/TROUGH. USED 12Z NAM TIMING FOR PRECIPITATION AND POPS. 12Z RUN OF NAM AND GFS AGREE ON SIMILAR TIMING OF NEXT PRECIPITATION EVENT...WHICH IS ABOUT 18 HOURS FASTER THAN PREVIOUS RUNS AND PREVIOUS GRIDS. HAVE ACCEPTED THE FASTER MOVEMENT. OVERALL THE BIG PLAYER ON FRIDAY NIGHT AND SATURDAY SEEMS TO BE THE PV ANOMALY WHICH GENERATES QUITE A BIT OF LIFT ACROSS NORTHERN MN. THIS ANOMALY DRAWS VERY WARM MOIST AIR INTO THE FRONTAL ZONE AND SHOULD LEAD TO A DECENT CONVECTIVE EVENT ON SATURDAY. LONGER TERM...SATURDAY NIGHT THROUGH WEDNESDAY MODELS APPEAR TO BE COMING AROUND TO STRONGER SOLUTION FOR SATURDAY NIGHT INTO SUNDAY. HAVE RAISED POPS A LITTLE BIT. SOME POTENTIAL FOR HEAVY RAIN WITH SOUTHERNMOST STORMS MORE REMOVED FROM FASTEST ZONAL FLOW. BUT IT ALSO LOOKS LIKE SHORT WAVE WILL BEGIN DROPPING SOUTHEAST LATER ON SATURDAY SO MAY NOT BE AS MUCH TRAINING AS ONE MIGHT THINK. BUT DEFINITELY SOMETHING TO WATCH. RAIN WILL LIKELY END SUNDAY MORNING. SMALL CHC FOR COLD POOL SHOWERS SUNDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING IN NORTHEASTERN SECTIONS BUT AM SOMEWHAT SKEPTICAL. WILL MAINTAIN POPS BASED ON COLLABORATION. NEXT SYSTEM AFTER THAT LOOKS LIKE A CARBON COPY OF THE SYSTEM THIS WEEKEND ALTHO MODELS HAVE NOT HAD IT EASY IN THIS PATTERN. WILL MATCH UP WITH ARX AND DMX FOR CHC STORMS TUESDAY AND TUESDAY NIGHT WHEN ECMWF AND GFS SHOW THE BEST AGREEMENT ON THE SHORT WAVE. && .MPX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... .MN...NONE. .WI...NONE. && NAISTAT/KRAUSE
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TWIN CITIES/CHANHASSEN MN 554 AM CDT WED MAY 18 2005 MNZ041>043-047>051-054>059-064>067-073>075-082-083-091-191053- BENTON-BLUE EARTH-BROWN-CHIPPEWA-DOUGLAS-KANDIYOHI-LAC QUI PARLE- MARTIN-MCLEOD-MEEKER-MORRISON-NICOLLET-POPE-REDWOOD-RENVILLE- SHERBURNE-SIBLEY-STEARNS-STEVENS-SWIFT-TODD-WATONWAN-WRIGHT- YELLOW MEDICINE- 554 AM CDT WED MAY 18 2005 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN MINNESOTA. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT THE STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS INDICATED THAT THERE IS A SLIGHT RISK OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING OVER PORTIONS CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN MINNESOTA. THE RISK AREA IS ALONG AND WEST OF A LINE FROM LITTLE FALLS THROUGH HUTCHINSON TO FAIRMONT. A FEW SEVERE STORMS WITH DAMAGING WINDS AND LARGE HAIL ARE EXPECTED. THE STORMS ARE EXPECTED TO DEVELOP THIS AFTERNOON AHEAD OF A LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM AND COLD FRONT APPROACHING WESTERN MINNESOTA FROM THE DAKOTAS. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...THURSDAY THROUGH TUESDAY ANOTHER COLD FRONT IS FORECAST TO APPROACH WESTERN MINNESOTA FROM THE DAKOTAS SATURDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING. THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TO DEVELOP AHEAD OF THE FRONT AND A FEW OF THE STORMS COULD BE SEVERE WITH LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SKYWARN SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE NEEDED THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING. MNZ044-045-052-053-060>063-068>070-076>078-084-085-092-093- WIZ014>016-023>028-191053- ANOKA-BARRON-CARVER-CHIPPEWA-CHISAGO-DAKOTA-DUNN-EAU CLAIRE- FARIBAULT-FREEBORN-GOODHUE-HENNEPIN-ISANTI-KANABEC-LE SUEUR- MILLE LACS-PEPIN-PIERCE-POLK-RAMSEY-RICE-RUSK-SCOTT-ST CROIX-STEELE- WASECA-WASHINGTON- 554 AM CDT WED MAY 18 2005 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF EAST CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN MINNESOTA...AND WEST CENTRAL WISCONSIN. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...THURSDAY THROUGH TUESDAY NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SKYWARN SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL NOT BE NEEDED TODAY OR TONIGHT. RAH
The Aberdeen radar (KABR), 188 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 23:44 UTC.
3 tornado, 1 funnel cloud, 1 hail. Local standard time, as filed.
A farmer saw a "block wide" tornado briefly touch down and pick up dirt in an open field in Pepperton Township, Section 14.
A funnel cloud was reported by a Sheriff's deputy 4 miles north of the Chippewa/Swift County line south of Benson.
Two Sheriff's deputies saw a tornado pick up debris near Highway 29.
A tornado was reported by a storm chaser on the ground for 1 ½ minutes just south of the intersection of County Road 3 and the Swift/Chippewa County border, about 4 miles south of Murdock.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Minnesota in 2005Every state in 2005This day in weather historyThe tornado archive for Minnesota, 2005Warnings in Minnesota, May 2005
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: 5447004, 5447005, 5447006, 5447007, 5447008.