Tornadoes · United States · Minnesota

2005 tornadoes in Minnesota

71 tornadoes touched down in Minnesota in 2005, 146 percent above the average of the record for the state. None of them killed anybody.

2004 2006 The whole country in 2005

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 2005

March 30 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
March 302:18 PM CSTF0Mower1.030$10,000

April 19 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
April 195:06 PM CDTF0Pope0.125

May 5 2 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
May 51:40 PM CDTF0Lake of the Woods0.225$10,000
May 53:45 PM CDTF0Lake of the Woods5.025

May 8 3 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
May 87:20 PM CDTF0Lac qui Parle0.120
May 87:31 PM CDTF0Lac qui Parle0.125
May 87:40 PM CDTF0Rice1.025

May 18 3 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
May 186:45 PM CDTF0Stevens0.130
May 187:03 PM CDTF0Swift0.125
May 187:28 PM CDTF0Chippewa0.325

May 20 2 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
May 205:07 PM CDTF0Polk0.525
May 205:22 PM CDTF0Polk0.325

May 21 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
May 213:18 PM CDTF2Polk0.375$10,000

June 10 4 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
June 106:34 PM CDTF0Stearns1.025
June 106:45 PM CDTF0Stearns0.120
June 106:51 PM CDTF0Stearns0.220
June 107:20 PM CDTF0Stearns0.120

June 11 5 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
June 114:23 PM CDTF0Chisago0.120
June 114:25 PM CDTF0Pine8.020
June 114:30 PM CDTF1Clay0.2100
June 115:00 PM CDTF1Pine6.025
June 115:20 PM CDTF0Pine0.120

June 13 2 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
June 136:58 PM CDTF0Douglas0.120
June 137:23 PM CDTF0Otter Tail0.550

June 19 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
June 197:08 PM CDTF0Polk0.250

June 20 4 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
June 2010:40 AM CDTF1Grant0.2100
June 2010:44 AM CDTF2Otter Tail4.0200
June 2011:14 AM CDTF2Otter Tail0.3200
June 203:25 PM CDTF0Rock0.750

June 23 10 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
June 234:22 PM CDTF2Kittson1.0200
June 235:15 PM CDTF1Lake of the Woods5.0100
June 235:22 PM CDTF2Polk2.0200
June 235:34 PM CDTF2Polk1.5200
June 235:44 PM CDTF0Polk0.250
June 235:48 PM CDTF1Polk5.0100
June 236:20 PM CDTF0Polk0.250
June 237:25 PM CDTF1Clay2.0100
June 237:35 PM CDTF1Clearwater5.0100
June 238:20 PM CDTF1Beltrami2.0100

June 26 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
June 263:35 PM CDTF1Hubbard2.5100

June 29 9 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
June 295:05 PM CDTF1Clay1.0100
June 295:09 PM CDTF1Becker3.0100
June 295:10 PM CDTF2Otter Tail1.5200
June 295:51 PM CDTF0Lyon3.0100
June 296:18 PM CDTF0Cottonwood9.0200
June 296:40 PM CDTF0Wadena0.225
June 297:51 PM CDTF0Watonwan0.550
June 298:22 PM CDTF0Blue Earth0.120
June 299:00 PM CDTF0Nicollet0.120

July 2 9 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
July 27:45 PM CDTF2Kittson4.0200
July 28:06 PM CDTF2Kittson1.5200
July 28:28 PM CDTF1Kittson2.0100$250,000
July 28:48 PM CDTF1Kittson3.0100$50,000
July 28:50 PM CDTF2Kittson1.5200
July 29:09 PM CDTF2Kittson2.0200
July 29:50 PM CDTF0Kittson2.050
July 210:50 PM CDTF0Kittson3.050
July 212:15 AM CDTF1Roseau1.0100

July 3 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
July 33:35 PM CDTF1Roseau2.0100

July 11 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
July 112:40 PM CDTF0Marshall4.050

August 18 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
August 1812:50 PM CDTF0Mower0.120$10,000

August 25 2 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
August 255:49 PM CDTF1Wilkin0.350
August 256:15 PM CDTF1Otter Tail1.050

September 5 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
September 58:04 PM CDTF1Clay2.5100

September 12 3 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
September 127:40 PM CDTF1Yellow Medicine1.020
September 127:43 PM CDTF1Chippewa1.020
September 1210:15 PM CDTF1Hennepin3.0301

September 21 4 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
September 216:22 PM CDTF0Kandiyohi0.120
September 217:08 PM CDTF0Hennepin0.130
September 217:16 PM CDTF0Anoka0.325
September 217:16 PM CDTF2Anoka2.0501

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.