Tornadoes · United States · Minnesota · 2005

F1 tornado, Roseau County, Minnesota, July 2, 2005

This F1 tornado ran 1.0 miles across Roseau County on July 2, 2005, touching down at 12:15 AM CDT and reaching 100 yards wide. It killed nobody.

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 mphthis tornado

    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.

The record

Rating
F1
Date
July 2, 2005
Touchdown
12:15 AM CDT (05:15 UTC)
Path length
1.0 miles (1.6 km)
Path width
100 yards (91 m)
Deaths
0
Injuries
0
County
Roseau County
Touchdown point
49.000, -95.970
Lift-off point
48.980, -96.000
Record number
1055

The warnings

No tornado warning for this county appears in the archive as in force at the moment the tornado touched down.

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 air that afternoon

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.

International Fa, MN (KINL), 00:00Z

5.3 hours before the tornado, 202 km from the path. July 3, 2005.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, International Fa, MN at 00:00Z on 2005-07-03Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 1756 joules per kilogram, CIN -41, lifted condensation level 1445 meters above ground. Wind barbs in knots down the right edge.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed. The warm shading is its CAPE, the cool shading the inhibition it has to break through.
HodographHodograph, International Fa, MN at 00:00Z on 2005-07-03The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers as a curve, rings every 10 meters per second labeled in knots. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 90 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 34 knots.193958Sfc1 km3 km6 km9 kmRMLM
The wind turning with height, colored by layer: ground to 1 km, 1 to 3 km, 3 to 6 km, 6 to 10 km. RM and LM are the right and left moving storms Bunkers' method gives; the shaded area is the 0 to 1 km storm-relative helicity.
Mixed-layer CAPE
1756 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-41 J/kg
Surface CAPE
2613 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1445 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
34 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
14 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
90 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
143 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.4
Supercell composite
5.1
0-3 km lapse rate
7.9 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

International Fa, MN (KINL), 12:00Z

6.7 hours after it, 202 km from the path. July 3, 2005.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, International Fa, MN at 12:00Z on 2005-07-03Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 10 joules per kilogram, CIN -297, lifted condensation level 1280 meters above ground. Wind barbs in knots down the right edge.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed. The warm shading is its CAPE, the cool shading the inhibition it has to break through.
HodographHodograph, International Fa, MN at 12:00Z on 2005-07-03The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers as a curve, rings every 10 meters per second labeled in knots. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 184 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 37 knots.19395878Sfc1 km3 km6 km9 kmRMLM
The wind turning with height, colored by layer: ground to 1 km, 1 to 3 km, 3 to 6 km, 6 to 10 km. RM and LM are the right and left moving storms Bunkers' method gives; the shaded area is the 0 to 1 km storm-relative helicity.
Mixed-layer CAPE
10 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-297 J/kg
Surface CAPE
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1280 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
37 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
22 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
184 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
224 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
1.6
0-3 km lapse rate
4.4 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The surface observations

Roseau Municipal (ROX), 26 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

Time (UTC)Temp (°F)Dew point (°F)WindGust (kt)Pressure (mb)Weather
03:15 UTC75.269.8160° 9 kt1001
03:35 UTC75.269.8140° 9 kt1001
03:55 UTC73.469.8140° 7 kt1000.7VCTS
04:15 UTC73.469.8140° 6 kt1000.7VCTS
04:35 UTC73.469.8140° 7 kt1000
04:55 UTC73.469.8150° 7 kt999.7
05:15 UTC73.469.8180° 9 kt1000.7VCTS
05:56 UTC62.660.8300° 15 kt201002.7-TSRA
06:15 UTC64.460.8320° 6 kt1002-TSRA
06:35 UTC64.462.6110° 4 kt1001-TSRA
06:55 UTC64.460.8110° 6 kt1000TS

From the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of airport observations.

The radar

The Fargo/Grand Forks radar (KMVX), 190 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 05:15 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.

What was reported nearby

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

Time (UTC)ReportWhereCountyRemark
04:35 UTCTSTM WND DMGLake BronsonKittson, MN2-4 INCH TREE LIMBS DOWN
04:45 UTCTSTM WND DMG10 Nw HaugRoseau, MN4-6 INCH TREE LIMBS DOWN
05:45 UTCTSTM WND DMG4 Nw WarroadRoseau, MN2-4 INCH TREE LIMBS DOWN
05:45 UTCTORNADO1 W RoseauRoseau, MN2 TORNADOES REPORTED TO BE MOVING TO THE SOUTH.

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

This ground now

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

The other tornadoes of July 2, 2005

11 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
July 23:15 PM EDTF0Camden, NC0.220
July 25:38 PM EDTF0Southampton, VA0.525
July 27:04 PM CDTF0Renville, ND0.030
July 27:45 PM CDTF2Kittson, MN4.0200
July 28:06 PM CDTF2Kittson, MN1.5200
July 28:28 PM CDTF1Kittson, MN2.0100$250,000
July 28:48 PM CDTF1Kittson, MN3.0100$50,000
July 28:50 PM CDTF2Kittson, MN1.5200
July 29:09 PM CDTF2Kittson, MN2.0200
July 29:50 PM CDTF0Kittson, MN2.050
July 210:50 PM CDTF0Kittson, MN3.050

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.