Tornadoes · United States · Minnesota

2003 tornadoes in Minnesota

46 tornadoes touched down in Minnesota in 2003, 59 percent above the average of the record for the state. None of them killed anybody.

2002 2004 The whole country in 2003

The rating scale

Tracks are drawn in the color of the rating. The Fujita scale rates the damage rather than measuring the wind: the speeds are what that damage is taken to imply.

  1. F040 to 72 mph

    Light damage. Surface peeled off some roofs, gutters and siding damaged, branches broken, shallow-rooted trees pushed over.

  2. F173 to 112 mph

    Moderate damage. Roofs badly stripped, mobile homes overturned or badly damaged, exterior doors lost, windows broken.

  3. F2113 to 157 mph

    Considerable damage. Roofs torn off well-built houses, frame homes shifted on their foundations, mobile homes destroyed, large trees snapped or uprooted, cars lifted off the ground.

  4. F3158 to 206 mph

    Severe damage. Whole stories of well-built houses destroyed, large buildings badly damaged, trains overturned, trees debarked, heavy cars lifted and thrown.

  5. F4207 to 260 mph

    Devastating damage. Well-built houses leveled, structures with weak foundations moved some distance, cars thrown and large missiles generated.

  6. F5261 to 318 mph

    Incredible damage. Strong frame houses swept off their foundations, car-sized missiles thrown more than 100 meters, steel-reinforced concrete badly damaged, high-rise buildings deformed.

  7. Unrated

    The survey recorded a tornado but could not put a number on it, most often because it crossed open country and damaged nothing a rating can be read from.

Every tornado in Minnesota in 2003

May 14 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
May 1412:50 PM CDTF0Brown2.025

May 29 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
May 2911:00 PM CDTF0Clearwater0.250$10,000

June 6 2 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
June 64:37 PM CDTF0Becker0.525
June 64:56 PM CDTF0Becker0.225

June 22 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
June 227:50 PM CDTF1Pope0.125$10,000

June 24 15 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
June 245:38 PM CDTF0Lincoln0.150
June 245:55 PM CDTF0Pope0.125
June 246:46 PM CDTF1Renville4.5100$500,000
June 247:30 PM CDTF0Sibley3.050
June 247:33 PM CDTF2Renville5.58805$15 million
June 247:47 PM CDTF0Kandiyohi0.125
June 247:49 PM CDTF0Kandiyohi0.2100
June 247:53 PM CDTF0Kandiyohi0.250
June 247:58 PM CDTF0Kandiyohi0.150
June 248:03 PM CDTF1Kandiyohi3.050
June 248:10 PM CDTF1Renville1.5100$500,000
June 248:15 PM CDTF0Kandiyohi0.550
June 248:38 PM CDTF0Chippewa3.050
June 248:39 PM CDTF0Renville2.5100
June 248:50 PM CDTF0Chisago0.325

June 28 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
June 286:32 PM CDTF0Cass0.115

July 2 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
July 23:50 PM CDTF0Beltrami0.125

July 6 2 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
July 65:30 PM CDTF0Beltrami0.225
July 67:30 PM CDTF1Otter Tail1.050$10,000

July 9 7 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
July 93:30 PM CDTF0Stevens3.050
July 94:50 PM CDTF0Swift0.125
July 95:00 PM CDTF1Swift5.050$10,000
July 95:15 PM CDTF0Swift0.125
July 95:40 PM CDTF0Blue Earth0.125
July 95:50 PM CDTF1Kandiyohi3.0220$1.0 million
July 96:00 PM CDTF0Blue Earth0.150

July 14 11 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
July 146:05 PM CDTF0Cottonwood0.150
July 147:26 PM CDTF0Saint Louis5.050
July 147:30 PM CDTF0Washington0.125
July 147:30 PM CDTF0Brown2.050
July 147:52 PM CDTF0Brown0.125
July 148:20 PM CDTF2Blue Earth0.550$100,000
July 148:22 PM CDTF1Blue Earth2.550
July 148:27 PM CDTF1Blue Earth3.0220$500,000
July 148:34 PM CDTF1Blue Earth2.0100$100,000
July 148:43 PM CDTF2Blue Earth1.5220$2.0 million
July 148:55 PM CDTF0Waseca0.150

July 19 3 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
July 193:45 PM CDTF0Todd0.250
July 194:00 PM CDTF0Todd3.050
July 194:15 PM CDTF0Morrison2.050

August 25 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
August 257:05 PM CDTF1Roseau1.050$20,000

Crossed into Minnesota

Tornadoes that touched down in a neighboring state and ran into Minnesota. They are counted under the state they began in.

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
July 143:30 PM CDTF0Pembina, ND to MN3.925

Nearby

Every tornado in Minnesota since 1950Warnings in force in MinnesotaThe live radar over Minnesota

What this means

Ratings are the survey's, read off the damage rather than measured; the rating scale is above. Tornado counts rise through the record as reporting improved, so a year in the 1950s is not comparable with one today except for the strongest tornadoes, which were always noticed.

Sources

NOAA Storm Prediction Center tornado database, 1950-2025, the official record kept by NOAA's Storm Prediction Center.