F2 tornado, Northcote to Orleans, Minnesota, July 2, 2005

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 mphthis tornado

   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.

Rating

F2

Date

July 2, 2005

Touchdown

8:06 PM CDT (01:06 UTC)

Path length

1.5 miles (2.4 km)

Path width

200 yards (183 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

0

County

Kittson County

Touchdown point

48.920, -97.070

Lift-off point

48.900, -97.050

Record number

1049

This tornado moved east-northeast along a 4 mile curved path and damaged several grain bins, uprooted numerous trees, and demolished portions of a barn 4 miles west of Northcote. Peak winds were estimated at 130 mph.

The tornado demolished 3 large grain bins, tore the doors off a large steel building, and blew down a small radio tower. Peak winds were estimated at 140 mph.

The tornado tore the doors off a steel building, flipped a camper trailer, and uprooted around 50 trees. Around 30 power poles were damaged, causing $150,000 in damages to the local utility.

The tornado damaged a grain dryer, an antenna, and a satellite dish. These three items had been unaffected by the tornado that began at 1845 CST, 5 miles west of Northcote. Peak winds were estimated at 100 mph.

The tornado snapped off 2 power poles and tore 2 steel grain bins from their foundations. The steel debris was carried over one mile downwind. Peak winds were estimated at 120 mph.

Twin vortices merged to form one tornado, which tracked for two miles. The tornado demolished two steel grain bins and blew the debris one-half mile downwind. Peak winds were estimated at 130 mph.

From NOAA NCEI's Storm Events Database, the narrative the local forecast office wrote for Storm Data.

34 minutes of warning. NWS FGF issued a tornado warning for this county at 00:32 UTC, 34 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 01:30 UTC.

Every warning and watch covering the touchdown point that day, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service products. Lead time is measured from the issue of the warning in force to the touchdown time in the database, both of which were recorded to the minute by different people.

The Storm Prediction Center had this point in a Slight Risk, with a 0.02 chance of a tornado within 25 miles. The outlook in force was issued at 00:55 UTC.

SPC's Day 1 convective outlook as it stood when the tornado began, read at the touchdown point. The same archive is on the radar archive.

The radiosonde launches on either side of the tornado, from the nearest station that was launching then, drawn and analyzed the way Storm Lab does: the same diagram, the same parcel and shear definitions SPC's mesoanalysis uses.

The Fargo/Grand Forks radar (KMVX), 155 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 01:07 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment, over the track

Reflectivity and velocity, decoded from the Level II archive in the browser. Volumes take a few seconds to open the first time.

Local storm reports within 60 km of the path, in the three hours either side.

From the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service local storm reports.

The live radar over the trackEvery 2005 tornado in MinnesotaEvery tornado in Minnesota since 1950Warnings in force in Minnesota nowThe forecast where you are

11 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

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.

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