Tornadoes · United States · Minnesota · 2006
F1 tornado, Donaldson, Minnesota, July 27, 2006
This F1 tornado ran 4.5 miles across Kittson and Marshall counties on July 27, 2006, touching down at 5:02 PM CDT and reaching 50 yards wide. It killed nobody, and did $50,000 of property damage.
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.
F040 to 72 mph
Light damage. Surface peeled off some roofs, gutters and siding damaged, branches broken, shallow-rooted trees pushed over.
F173 to 112 mphthis tornado
Moderate damage. Roofs badly stripped, mobile homes overturned or badly damaged, exterior doors lost, windows broken.
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.
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.
F4207 to 260 mph
Devastating damage. Well-built houses leveled, structures with weak foundations moved some distance, cars thrown and large missiles generated.
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.
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 27, 2006
- Touchdown
- 5:02 PM CDT (22:02 UTC)
- Path length
- 4.5 miles (7.2 km)
- Path width
- 50 yards (46 m)
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- Property damage
- $50,000
- Counties
- Kittson and Marshall counties
- Touchdown point
- 48.600, -96.830
- Lift-off point
- 48.520, -96.820
- Record number
- 770
What the Weather Service recorded
The tornado touched down in a field just north of highway 11 and travelled for about 3.5 miles before it crossed into Marshall county. Tornadic winds snapped several cottonwood trees at a homestead and swirled tree branches around the yard. Smaller tree branches were lofted over a mile to the south by the tornado and crops were swirled by the winds. Peak winds were estimated at 80 mph.
From NOAA NCEI's Storm Events Database, the narrative the local forecast office wrote for Storm Data.
The warnings
13 minutes of warning. NWS FGF issued a tornado warning for this county at 21:49 UTC, 13 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 22:45 UTC.
| Issued (UTC) | Expired | Product | Office |
|---|---|---|---|
| 21:23 UTC | 22:30 UTC | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FGF |
| 21:49 UTC | 22:45 UTC | Tornado Warning | FGF |
| 22:25 UTC | 01:32 UTC | Severe Thunderstorm Watch | FGF |
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 forecast that day
The Storm Prediction Center had this point in a General Thunderstorms Risk. The outlook in force was issued at 20:01 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.
What forecasters said that day
The local office's own words before the tornado touched down, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.
NWS Grand Forks, ND wrote its last area forecast discussion before the tornado touched down at Jul 27, 2:30 PM CDT, 2 hours 32 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Jul 27, 2:30 PM CDT, 2 hours 32 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAND FORKS ND 230 PM CDT THU JUL 27 2006 FORECAST CHALLENGE CONCERNS TEMPERATURES AND PCPN CHANCES. SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCES IN MODEL SOLUTIONS MAINLY CONCERNING SOUTHWARD PUSH OF COLDER AIR AND RESULTING BOUNDARY ORIENTATION. ALTHOUGH MODELS INITIALIZED CLOSE ON THERMAL FIELDS GFS INITIALIZED BETTER WITH WEAKER STRENGTH OF SURFACE FEATURES AND NAM WAY-OVERDOING NEAR TERM QPF. IN ADDITION BASED ON CURRENT NEAR ZONAL PATTERN AND RISING HEIGHTS FEEL COLD PUSH ON NAM OVERDONE AS WELL. WITH ABOVE THINKING WILL UTILIZE GFS FOR FORECAST. SHORTWAVE CONTINUES TO TRACK EAST ACROSS CENTRAL MB INTO ONTARIO OVERNIGHT. ANOTHER WAVE OVER CENTRAL MT WHICH WILL DROP SE AND RIGHT NOW TOUGH TO PICKOUT ANY MINOR FEATURE ON WATER VAPOR IMAGERY BETWEEN THE TWO THAT WOULD AFFECT FA. MAIN ENERGY REMAINS NORTH OF BORDER TONIGHT. WEAK SURFACE BOUNDARY REMAINS ON WESTERN FA DOORSTEP AND WILL CROSS FA THIS EVENING. NOT CONFIDENT ON T POTENTIAL WITH BOUNDARY PASSAGE HOWEVER RUC NOT AS BEEFY WITH CAPPING VS GFS SO WILL MAINLY SLIGHT POPS TO BE SAFE. COLD ADVECTION IN WAKE OF BOUNDARY REACHES INTERNATIONAL BORDER LATE TONIGHT SO NOT EXPECTING BIG DROP IN TEMPERATURES OVERNIGHT AND MIN TEMPERATURES SHOULD RESEMBLE LAST FEW NIGHTS. BIG DIFFERENCES IN MODELS STARTING TOMORROW WITH SOUTHWARD PUSH OF COLDER AIR AS STATED ABOVE. NAM DRIVES COLDER AIR SOUTH THROUGH WHILE GFS HOLDS COLDEST AIR ALONG CANADIAN BORDER THAN SHIFTS COLDER AIR EAST. BASED ON CONTINUED ZONAL FLOW AND BUILDING MID LEVEL HEIGHTS AM HAVING A HARD TIME BELIEVING NAM SOLUTION AND WILL HOLD WITH WARMER GFS SOLUTION. WILL STILL SEE THERMAL GRADIENT ACROSS FA WITH LOWEST MAX TEMPERATURES ALONG INTERNATIONAL BORDER. AS A RESULT OF MODEL DIFFERENCES E-W ORIENTED BOUNDARY LOCATION DIFFERS WITH GFS ALONG ND/SD BORDER AND NAM ALONG SD/NE BORDER. 850MB LOW LEVEL JET INCREASES TO 30KT ALONG WITH FAVORABLE BULK SHEAR AND MODEST ELEVATED INSTABILITY. 700 MB TEMPERATURES GET QUITE WARM OVER SW 1/3 OF FA SO CONVECTION MAY BECOME ORIENTED ALONG FRINGE OF CAP. WITH BOUNDARY ORIENTATION UNCERTAIN WILL MAINTAIN LOW POP THREAT ACROSS WHOLE FA. HEAT THEN BECOMES MAIN ISSUE REMAINDER OF WEEKEND. 700MB TEMPERATURES CLIMB TO 12-16C WHICH SHOULD EFFECTIVELY CAP ATMOSPHERE AS WARM FRONT LIFTS NORTH THROUGH FA. PNS ISSUED ADDRESSING HEAT THREAT. MON THRU THURS...THE COMBINATION OF SOUTHWEST FLOW ALOFT AND A LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM DRAPED ACROSS THE UPPER MIDWEST WILL SET THE STAGE FOR THUNDERSTORM DEVELOPMENT. JUST WHERE THE LOW SETS UP AND ITS RESULTANT MOVEMENT WILL GREATLY AFFECT AMOUNTS AND TIMING OF PRECIP. BOTH THE GFS AND DGEX SHOW THE LOW AND ASSOCIATED FRONTS MOVING FROM CENTRAL SD INTO SOUTHERN MN THRU TUESDAY. HIGH PRESSURE BUILDS IN FROM THE WEST BY THE MIDDLE OF THE WEEK AS THE FLOW ALOFT BECOMES MORE ZONAL. TEMPS WILL HINGE ON FRONTAL POSITIONS...BUT OVERALL THE TREND OF ABOVE AVERAGE VALUES WILL HOLD TRUE. && .FGF WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... ND...NONE. MN...NONE. && VOELKER/ANDERSON
Hazardous weather outlook, Jul 27, 4:30 PM CDT, 32 minutes before
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK...UPDATED NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAND FORKS ND 430 PM CDT THU JUL 27 2006 MNZ001>009-013>017-022>024-027>032-040-NDZ006>008-014>016-024- 026>030-038-039-049-052>054-281115- WEST POLK-NORMAN-CLAY-KITTSON-ROSEAU-LAKE OF THE WOODS- WEST MARSHALL-EAST MARSHALL-NORTH BELTRAMI-PENNINGTON-RED LAKE- EAST POLK-NORTH CLEARWATER-SOUTH BELTRAMI-MAHNOMEN- SOUTH CLEARWATER-HUBBARD-WEST BECKER-EAST BECKER-WILKIN- WEST OTTER TAIL-EAST OTTER TAIL-WADENA-GRANT-TOWNER-CAVALIER- PEMBINA-BENSON-RAMSEY-EASTERN WALSH COUNTY-EDDY-NELSON- GRAND FORKS-GRIGGS-STEELE-TRAILL-BARNES-CASS-RANSOM-SARGENT- RICHLAND-WESTERN WALSH COUNTY- 430 PM CDT THU JUL 27 2006 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF EASTERN NORTH DAKOTA...WEST CENTRAL AND NORTHWEST MINNESOTA. .DAY ONE...LATE THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT ISOLATED SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS PRODUCING LARGE HAIL WILL OCCUR OVER EXTREME NORTHWEST MINNESOTA UNTIL 9 PM. THE AREA OF CONCERN IS NORTH OF HIGHWAY TWO. AN UPPER LEVEL DISTURBANCE WILL MOVE ALONG THE MANITOBA AND MINNESOTA BORDER THIS EVENING CAUSING THESE STORMS TO DEVELOP. THE ACTIVITY WILL WEAKEN WITH SUNSET AND DIMINISH. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...FRIDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY HOT CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED TO OVERSPREAD THE REGION SUNDAY INTO MONDAY. TEMPERATURES IN THE 90S COUPLED WITH INCREASING HUMIDITY WILL RESULT IN HEAT INDICES APPROACHING 100 DEGREES FOR AREAS GENERALLY ALONG AND SOUTH OF THE I-94 CORRIDOR. ADDITIONAL THUNDERSTORM CHANCES ARE POSSIBLE ACROSS THE REGION FRIDAY NIGHT INTO SATURDAY AND THEN AGAIN ON MONDAY NIGHT. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS POSSIBLE FROM HALLOCK TO BEMIDJI TO ROSEAU. RIDDLE
In the hours before
Local storm report, Jul 27, 4:57 PM CDT, 5 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE EASTERN ND/GRAND FORKS
457 PM CDT THU JUL 27 2006
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0440 PM HAIL 4 SE HALLOCK 48.73N 96.88W
07/27/2006 E0.88 INCH KITTSON MN PUBLIC
&&
BRAMERLocal storm report, Jul 27, 4:59 PM CDT, 3 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE EASTERN ND/GRAND FORKS
459 PM CDT THU JUL 27 2006
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0440 PM TSTM WND DMG 4 SE HALLOCK 48.73N 96.88W
07/27/2006 KITTSON MN PUBLIC
SIGNIFICANT TREE DAMAGE DUE TO STRAIGHT LINE WINDS.
&&
BRAMERThe 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), 12:00Z
10.0 hours before the tornado, 259 km from the path. July 27, 2006.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 0 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -88206 J/kg
- Surface CAPE
- 0 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 1526 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 27 kt
- 0-1 km bulk shear
- 2 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 10 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 43 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
- 0-3 km lapse rate
- 4.0 K/km
International Fa, MN (KINL), 00:00Z
2.0 hours after it, 259 km from the path. July 28, 2006.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 411 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -6 J/kg
- Surface CAPE
- 862 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 2111 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 27 kt
- 0-1 km bulk shear
- 9 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 12 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 82 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.5
- 0-3 km lapse rate
- 8.7 K/km
The surface observations
Hallock (HCO), 23 km from the path, in the two hours either side.
| Time (UTC) | Temp (°F) | Dew point (°F) | Wind | Gust (kt) | Pressure (mb) | Weather |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 20:15 UTC | 91.4 | 66.2 | 210° 6 kt | 1006.1 | ||
| 20:35 UTC | 93.2 | 66.2 | 200° 9 kt | 1005.8 | ||
| 20:55 UTC | 89.6 | 64.4 | 200° 7 kt | 1005.4 | TS | |
| 21:37 UTC | 66.2 | 64.4 | 140° 25 kt | 36 | 1006.1 | +TSRA |
| 21:55 UTC | 68 | 68 | 130° 16 kt | 23 | 1006.1 | VCTS |
| 21:57 UTC | 68 | 68 | 130° 13 kt | 1006.1 | VCTS | |
| 22:15 UTC | 69.8 | 69.8 | 130° 17 kt | 23 | 1006.1 | |
| 22:35 UTC | 73.4 | 73.4 | 130° 10 kt | 16 | 1006.1 | |
| 22:55 UTC | 77 | 77 | 140° 7 kt | 1005.8 | ||
| 23:15 UTC | 75.2 | 75.2 | 140° 5 kt | 1005.8 | ||
| 23:35 UTC | 80.6 | 80.6 | 100° 5 kt | 1005.8 | ||
| 23:55 UTC | 80.6 | 80.6 | 360° 11 kt | 1006.1 |
From the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of airport observations.
The radar
The Fargo/Grand Forks radar (KMVX), 121 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 22:02 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) | Report | Where | County | Remark |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 21:40 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 4 Se Hallock | Kittson, MN | SIGNIFICANT TREE DAMAGE DUE TO STRAIGHT LINE WINDS. |
| 21:40 UTC | HAIL 0.88 | 4 Se Hallock | Kittson, MN | |
| 21:50 UTC | FUNNEL CLOUD | 3 Ese Kennedy | Kittson, MN | A FUNNEL CLOUD BEGAN TO DEVELOP UNDER A PERSISTENT WALL CLOUD FORMATION AND WAS VIEWED BY A FARMER IN HIS FIELD SOUTHEAST OF KENNEDY. THE WALL CLOUD APPEARED TO TURN TO THE RIGHT OF ITS ORIGINAL SOUTHEAST PATH AND TOWARD |
| 21:58 UTC | HAIL 2.75 | 5 Ene Donaldson | Kittson, MN | SEVERAL SQUARE MILES OF CROPS WERE SHATTERED OR FLATTENED BY LARGE HAIL IN EASTERN DAVIS AND WESTERN SPRINGBROOK TOWNSHIPS. |
| 22:01 UTC | HAIL 1.75 | 3 E Donaldson | Kittson, MN | |
| 22:01 UTC | HAIL 1.75 | 4 E Donaldson | Kittson, MN | |
| 22:02 UTC | TORNADO 1 | 3 Ene Donaldson | Kittson, MN | A TORNADO TOUCHED DOWN IN A FIELD JUST NORTH OF HIGHWAY 11 AND TRAVELED FOR ABOUT 3.5 MILES BEFORE IT ENDED IN MARSHALL COUNTY. TORNADIC WINDS SNAPPED SEVERAL COTTONWOOD TREES AT A HOMESTEAD AND SWIRLED TREE BRANCHES ARO |
| 22:04 UTC | HAIL 1.75 | 9 Ne Stephen | Marshall, MN | |
| 22:09 UTC | TORNADO 1 | 6 Nne Stephen | Marshall, MN | A TORNADO CONTINUED FROM KITTSON COUNTY INTO MARSHALL COUNTY AND TRACKED FOR ABOUT 1 MORE MILE TO THE SOUTH UNTIL 512 PM. THE TORNADO BLEW OVER A ROAD SIGN AND CAUSED ADDITIONAL EXTREME WIND STRESS AS CROPS WERE SWIRLED |
From the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service local storm reports.
This ground now
The live radar over the trackEvery 2006 tornado in MinnesotaEvery tornado in Minnesota since 1950Warnings in force in Minnesota nowThe forecast where you are
The other tornadoes of July 27, 2006
3 more were confirmed in the United States that day.
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.