A line of strong thunderstorms moved rapidly northward across southern Minnesota during the late afternoon and early evening hours of Monday, March 19th. Some of the storms became severe near Albert Lea, and Elysian, or east of Mankato, Minnesota.
Every event with a place to put it. 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 episode as NWS MPX wrote it up.
A line of strong thunderstorms moved rapidly northward across southern Minnesota during the late afternoon and early evening hours of Monday, March 19th. Some of the storms became severe near Albert Lea, and Elysian, or east of Mankato, Minnesota. One of the storms produced an EF0 tornado near Elysian, which traveled approximately 6.5 miles to the north before lifting. Most of the damage was associated downed trees and roof damage. As the storms moved north, some of the stronger storms produced wind gusts of 50 to 60 mph across the western Twin Cities Metro, with minor damage reported in Carver.
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 Mar 19, 3:13 PM CST, 1 hour 49 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TWIN CITIES/CHANHASSEN MN 413 PM CDT MON MAR 19 2012 .DISCUSSION... FINALLY STARTING TO SEE SOME THUNDERSTORMS TO GO ALONG WITH THIS MAY LIKE WEATHER THIS AFTERNOON. COOL FRONT AT 33O PM WAS JUST SNEAKING INTO SW MN...ARCING BACK NW TO DEVILS LAKE. AROUND 1000 J/KG OF MLCAPE...LITTLE CIN...AND WEAK CONVERGENCE ALONG THE BOUNDARY HAVE RESULTED IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF A LINE OF STORMS OUT IN WRN MN. HAVE SEEN SOME WIND GUSTS OUT IN MADISON AND APPLETON UP AROUND 50 MPH. WITH DEEP LAYER SHEAR UP AROUND 50 KTS...SHOULD BE ABLE TO SUSTAIN THE STORMS THROUGH THE AFTERNOON...WITH A MODEST THREAT FOR HAIL/WIND. IN ADDITION...SOME TORNADO PARAMETERS...LIKE 0-3KM CAPE AND SFC VORTICITY SHOW UP ALONG THE FRONT...SO WILL EVEN HAVE TO WATCH FOR A VERY SMALL TORNADO POTENTIAL...SEE SPC MCD 291 FOR MORE DETAILS. FURTHER EAST...WARM TONGUE OF AIR WITH TEMPS UP NEAR 80 FROM NE IA UP TOWARD REDWING HAS SET UP A NARROW AXIS OF STRONGER INSTABILITY EAST OF THE TWIN CITIES. SHEAR NOT NEARLY AS STRONG EAST AS IN THE WEST...SO NOT EXPECTING ANY OF THIS ACTIVITY TO BE SEVERE. AFTER THAT...WATCHING STRONG PUSH OF RICH PWAT AIR COMING UP THROUGH MO...WITH ASSOCIATED WIDESPREAD AREA OF SHOWERS/STORMS. TREND FROM 12Z MODELS WAS TO SEND THE BULK OF THIS PRECIPITATION NORTH ALONG THE COOL FRONT AND WRN EDGE OF H85 MOISTURE TRANSPORT AS THE FRONT SLOWLY WORKS EAST TONIGHT. THIS WOULD PUT A MAJORITY OF THE PRECIPITATION TONIGHT WEST IF I-35...WITH AREAS EAST SEEING LIGHTER/MORE SCATTERED ACTIVITY AS THINGS BEGIN TO OUTRUN THE CONVERGENCE ALONG THE FRONT. HAVE ALSO SEEN A FURTHER SLOWING OF THE FRONT...WITH MODEL BLEND TAKING THE FRONT ABOUT AS FAR EAST AS A NEW ULM TO SUPERIOR LINE BY TUESDAY AFTERNOON. THIS WILL CONTINUE THE THREAT FOR SHOWERS EAST OF THE FRONT...THOUGH IT STILL LOOKS TO BE TUESDAY AFTERNOON/EVENING THAT PRECIPITATION REALLY GETS RAMPED UP AS A RENEWED SURGE OF MOISTURE RIDES UP AND OVER WHAT IS LEFT OF THE BOUNDARY. CURRENT FORECAST LOOKED GOOD IN TERMS OF ORIENTATION OF POP/QPF TUESDAY AFTERNOON/EVENING...ONLY CHANGE WAS INCREASE BOTH AS MODEL SIGNAL FOR ANOTHER ROUND OF PRECIPITATION HAS BEEN STRONG OVER THE LAST FEW RUNS. EXPECT TO SEE A LULL IN PRECIPITATION WEDNESDAY AS BOUNDARY WASHES OUT AS UPPER RIDGING BUILDS IN ATOP THE CUT OFF LOW OVER THE SOUTHERN PLAINS. GEM/GFS/ECWMF SHOWING A GOOD SURGE OF MOISTURE BACK NORTH INTO THE AREA THURSDAY INTO FRIDAY...SO UPPED AND EXPANDED POPS NORTHWARD IN THIS PERIOD. BEST LIS DOWN AROUND ZERO AT BEST...SO MOST OF THIS ACTIVITY LOOKS TO COME UP WITHOUT THE THUNDER. OTHER THAN THAT...THE ONLY MAJOR CHANGE SEEN WITH FORECAST FOR THE WEEKEND INTO NEXT WEEK WAS TO CONTINUE WARMING THINGS...AS BOTH THE GFS/ECMWF SHOWING RIDGING BUILDING IN OVER THE CONUS...WITH MILD AIR REMAINING IN PLACE. SHOULD CONTINUE TO SEE HIGHS STAY IN THE 60S THIS WHOLE PERIOD...WITH 70S POSSIBLY MAKING A RETURN NEXT WEEK. && .AVIATION.../18Z TAF ISSUANCE/ THE FORECAST CHALLENGE OVER THE NEXT 24 HOURS ARE PRECIPITATION CHANCES. UPPER LEVEL TROUGH WILL CONTINUE TO LIFT NORTHEAST INTO THE CENTRAL PLAINS. SHRA/ISOLD TSRA WILL CONTINUE TO SPREAD NORTHWARD INTO THE UPPER MIDWEST THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT. AS DEEPER MOISTURE ADVECTS INTO THE UPPER MIDWEST...EXPECT MORE WIDESPREAD MVFR AND OCCASIONAL IFR CEILING/VISIBILITIES. CONDITIONS WILL BEGIN TO IMPROVE FROM WEST TO EAST TUESDAY MORNING. KMSP...THE BULK OF THE SHOWERS AND ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS SHOULD HOLD OFF UNTIL AFTER 600 PM THIS EVENING. IN THE MEANTIME...EXPECT CEILINGS TO LOWER TO MARGINAL VFR CONDITIONS BEFORE THEN. RAIN AND ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS LINGERING DURING THE OVERNIGHT HOURS...WITH CONDITIONS SLOWLY IMPROVING DURING THE AFTERNOON TUESDAY. OUTLOOK... .TUES-WED...IFR CIGS POSSIBLE WITH SHRA ALONG SLOW MOVING COLD FRONT. TSRA POSSIBLE BUT NOT LIKELY. .THUR-FRI...LOW CONFIDENCE...MVFR WITH -SHRA. && .MPX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... MN...NONE. WI...NONE. && MPG/JVM
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK...UPDATED NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TWIN CITIES/CHANHASSEN MN 554 PM CDT MON MAR 19 2012 MNZ041>045-047>070-073>078-082>085-091>093-WIZ014>016-023>028- 201300- DOUGLAS-TODD-MORRISON-MILLE LACS-KANABEC-STEVENS-POPE-STEARNS- BENTON-SHERBURNE-ISANTI-CHISAGO-LAC QUI PARLE-SWIFT-CHIPPEWA- KANDIYOHI-MEEKER-WRIGHT-HENNEPIN-ANOKA-RAMSEY-WASHINGTON- YELLOW MEDICINE-RENVILLE-MCLEOD-SIBLEY-CARVER-SCOTT-DAKOTA- REDWOOD-BROWN-NICOLLET-LE SUEUR-RICE-GOODHUE-WATONWAN-BLUE EARTH- WASECA-STEELE-MARTIN-FARIBAULT-FREEBORN-POLK-BARRON-RUSK- ST. CROIX-PIERCE-DUNN-PEPIN-EAU CLAIRE- 554 PM CDT MON MAR 19 2012 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN MINNESOTA... AND WEST CENTRAL WISCONSIN. .DAY ONE...TONIGHT THUNDERSTORMS WILL CONTINUE TO SHIFT NORTH ACROSS MUCH OF THE OUTLOOK AREA THROUGH THIS EVENING...ESPECIALLY OVER CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN MINNESOTA. SOME OF THE STRONGER STORMS MAY PRODUCE SMALL HAIL AND GUSTY WINDS. THE THREAT OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS IS LOW...BUT BRIEF HEAVY RAINFALL IS LIKELY. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE POSSIBLE ACROSS MAINLY EASTERN MINNESOTA AND WESTERN WISCONSIN TUESDAY. SEVERE WEATHER IS NOT EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SKYWARN SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT EXPECTED TO BE NEEDED. HOWEVER...ANY REPORTS OF SEVERE WEATHER WOULD BE MOST WELCOME.
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TWIN CITIES/CHANHASSEN MN
238 PM CDT MON MAR 19 2012
MNZ054>056-064-192015-
CHIPPEWA-LAC QUI PARLE-SWIFT-YELLOW MEDICINE-
238 PM CDT MON MAR 19 2012
AT 237 PM CDT...WEATHER SERVICE RADAR WAS TRACKING A STRONG
THUNDERSTORM 7 MILES SOUTH OF MADISON...OR 9 MILES NORTHWEST OF
PROVIDENCE. THIS STORM WAS MOVING NORTH AT 40 MPH.
HAIL UP TO NICKEL SIZE AND WINDS UP TO 55 MPH ARE EXPECTED WITH THIS
STORM.
* LOCATIONS IN OR NEAR THE PATH OF THIS STORM INCLUDE...
MADISON.
CERRO GORDO.
LOUISBURG.
HOLLOWAY.
LAT...LON 4526 9633 4526 9629 4523 9627 4520 9612
4523 9611 4524 9613 4530 9613 4535 9612
4536 9611 4521 9579 4475 9606 4478 9633
TIME...MOT...LOC 1939Z 181DEG 69KT 4495 9618SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TWIN CITIES/CHANHASSEN MN
313 PM CDT MON MAR 19 2012
MNZ047-048-055-192100-
POPE-STEVENS-SWIFT-
313 PM CDT MON MAR 19 2012
AT 310 PM CDT...WEATHER SERVICE RADAR WAS TRACKING A STRONG
THUNDERSTORM 4 MILES NORTHEAST OF CORRELL. THIS STORM WAS MOVING
NORTH AT 45 MPH.
HAIL UP TO NICKEL SIZE AND WINDS UP TO 55 MPH ARE EXPECTED WITH THIS
STORM.
* LOCATIONS IN OR NEAR THE PATH OF THIS STORM INCLUDE...
HOLLOWAY.
HANCOCK.
ALBERTA.
DONNELLY.
LAT...LON 4577 9599 4574 9544 4518 9569 4525 9613
4540 9613 4541 9624 4576 9626
TIME...MOT...LOC 2013Z 182DEG 40KT 4530 9610The Minneapolis radar (KMPX), 186 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 22:55 UTC.
7 thunderstorm wind, 2 tornado. Local standard time, as filed.
Severe thunderstorm winds caused damage to a barn, and a few trees to snap off near Eagle Bend, Minnesota.
Severe thunderstorm winds caused a grain bin, approximately 15 feet tall, to collapse north of Albert Lea, Minnesota.
An EF-0 tornado touched down just south of Elysian Lake Road, just south of 412th Avenue, in northern Waseca County. The tornado tracked north for approximately 2.8 miles while paralleling the eastern shore of Elysian Lake and Elysian Lake Road. It crossed Elysian Lake near 427th Ave, before moving into southern Le Sueur County.
Damage was primarily associated with uprooted trees and roof damage. The worst damage occurred to a farmstead which had a metal storage shed collapse along Elysian Lake Road.
Based on trees uprooted and structural damage to a metal storage shed, winds were estimated around 80 mph.
The EF-0 tornado that formed in northern Waseca County continued to move northward across the western sections of Elysian in Le Sueur County, where two small empty grain bins were blown into a field. Also, a small metal shed was blown across Highway 60 in the same area.
As the tornado continued to track north of Lake Francis, the damage pattern became more complex, and some damage signatures were associated with downburst winds. However, the damage pattern was such that it impossible to discern between the tornado damage and any downburst damage. Therefore there is no separate entry for thunderstorm wind damage at this point.
The path length of the tornado in Le Sueur County was approximately 3.7 miles, which ended at the St. Peters Church two miles north of Lake Francis. Although most of the damage was associated with uprooted trees and roof damage to homes, numerous boat docks and lifts along the northern shore of Lake Francis were picked up and tossed into the adjacent properties.
Based on damage, winds were estimated at 80 mph, and the total path length across Waseca and Le Sueur Counties was 6.54 miles.
Severe wind gusts caused a roof of a gas station to blow down in Carver, Minnesota. The damage was confined to gas pumps and a metal roof.
A 50 foot tree was blown down and landed on an automobile in Dundas, Minnesota.
Several power poles and a street light were blown down in Northfield, Minnesota, due to severe thunderstorm wind gusts.
A large tree blew down at the corner of 111th Ave and Hanson Blvd in Coon Rapids, Minnesota.
A large tree blew down at the intersection of Armstrong Blvd NW and 173rd Ave NW in Ramsey, Minnesota.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Minnesota in 2012Every state in 2012This day in weather historyThe tornado archive for Minnesota, 2012Warnings in Minnesota, March 2012
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: 361449, 361448, 361450, 361469, 361447, 361446, 361445, 366002, 366003.