Tornadoes · United States · Minnesota · 2007

EF1 tornado, Greenbush to Fox, Minnesota, June 24, 2007

From Greenbush to Fox, this EF1 tornado ran 3.0 miles across Roseau County on June 24, 2007, touching down at 8:53 PM CDT and reaching 50 yards wide. It killed nobody.

The rating scale

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

  1. EF065 to 85 mph

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

  2. EF186 to 110 mphthis tornado

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

  3. EF2111 to 135 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. EF3136 to 165 mph

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

  5. EF4166 to 200 mph

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

  6. EF5over 200 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
EF1
Date
June 24, 2007
Touchdown
8:53 PM CDT (01:53 UTC)
Lifted
9:00 PM CDT (02:00 UTC)
On the ground
7 minutes
Path length
3.0 miles (4.8 km)
Path width
50 yards (46 m)
Deaths
0
Injuries
0
County
Roseau County
Touchdown point
48.801, -96.180
Lift-off point
48.802, -96.101
Record number
0706241953-01

What the Weather Service recorded

Warm temperatures just above the surface layer kept this thunderstorm event restricted to the area right along the border between northwest Minnesota and Canada. Early in the evening of the 24th, a cold front was located from Hallock, Minnesota, to near Bismarck, North Dakota. Over the next couple of hours, the front sagged a bit south, toward a Baudette, MN, to Grafton, ND, line. Thunderstorms initially developed over Kittson and Roseau Counties, but moved into southern Manitoba and southwest Ontario, Canada.

Power poles and lines were downed and several trees were snapped off along this route. The damage indicated peak winds of 90 to 95 mph.

A brief tornado touchdown occurred near Fox. No significant damage was detected.

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 01:40 UTC, 13 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 02:45 UTC.

Issued (UTC)ExpiredProductOffice
01:28 UTC01:45 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGF
01:40 UTC02:45 UTCTornado WarningFGF
02:44 UTC03:35 UTCTornado WarningFGF
17:21 UTC18:15 UTCTornado WarningFGF
17:41 UTC18:30 UTCTornado WarningFGF

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 Slight Risk, with a 0.02 chance of a tornado within 25 miles. The outlook in force was issued at 01:01 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.

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

1.9 hours before the tornado, 210 km from the path. June 25, 2007.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, International Fa, MN at 00:00Z on 2007-06-25Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 1357 joules per kilogram, CIN -120, lifted condensation level 1725 meters above ground. Wind barbs in knots down the right edge.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°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 2007-06-25The 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 64 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 33 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
1357 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-120 J/kg
Surface CAPE
2517 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1725 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
33 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
11 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
64 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
84 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
2.0
0-3 km lapse rate
7.8 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

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

10.1 hours after it, 210 km from the path. June 25, 2007.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, International Fa, MN at 12:00Z on 2007-06-25Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 860 joules per kilogram, CIN -205, lifted condensation level 1114 meters above ground. Wind barbs in knots down the right edge.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°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 2007-06-25The 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 1 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
860 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-205 J/kg
Surface CAPE
146 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1114 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
34 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
6 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
1 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
62 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0
0-3 km lapse rate
3.8 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The surface observations

Roseau Municipal (ROX), 33 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

Time (UTC)Temp (°F)Dew point (°F)WindGust (kt)Pressure (mb)Weather
23:55 UTC84.277230° 5 kt1009.5
00:15 UTC84.277220° 4 kt1009.5
00:35 UTC84.2770° 0 kt1009.1
00:55 UTC84.278.80° 0 kt1009.1
01:15 UTC84.278.80° 0 kt1009.1
01:35 UTC80.677100° 4 kt1008.5VCTS
01:55 UTC80.6770° 0 kt1009.1TS
02:15 UTC80.677220° 6 kt1010.8-TSRA
02:35 UTC73.471.6160° 9 kt1009.1+TSRA
02:55 UTC71.669.8310° 27 kt351010.5-TSRA
03:15 UTC66.264.4160° 3 kt81010.2TS
03:35 UTC71.668150° 4 kt1010.5

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

What was reported nearby

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

Time (UTC)ReportWhereCountyRemark
01:40 UTCHAIL 1.55 Ssw CaribouKittson, MN
01:53 UTCTORNADO 11 Sse HaugRoseau, MNTORNADO TOUCHDOWN REPORTED AROUND 7 MILES NORTH OF GREENBUSH...OR 1 SSE OF HAUG. TORNADO TRACKED FOR ABOUT 3 MILES TO AROUND 4 WNW OF BADGER BY 9 PM CDT. POWER POLES AND LINES WERE TAKEN DOWN AND SEVERAL TREES WERE SNAPP
01:54 UTCTORNADO7 N GreenbushRoseau, MNTONRADO REPORTED 4-7 MILES N OF GREENBUSH. LATER REPORT RECEIVED CONFIRMED TORNADO WAS 7 MILES NORTH OF GREENBUSH.
01:59 UTCTORNADO5 Nne GreenbushRoseau, MNTORNADO REPORTED ON GROUND MOVING TO THE EAST-SOUTHEAST. TORNADO WAS DISSIPATING AT TIME OF CALL.
02:26 UTCTORNADO 07 W RoseauRoseau, MNHAM RADIO RELAYED REPORT FROM LOCAL RADIO STATION OF A BRIEF TORNADO NEAR FOX OR 7 MILES WEST OF ROSEAU. NO SIGNIFCANT DAMAGE WAS DETECTED.
02:26 UTCTORNADO7 W RoseauRoseau, MNHAM RADIO RELAYED REPORT FROM LOCAL RADIO STATION OF A TORNADO NEAR FOX OR 7 MILES WEST OF ROSEAU.
02:59 UTCTORNADO 05 Ene SalolRoseau, MNBRIEF TOUCHDOWN REPORTED NEAR THE TIMBERLINE TRAILER COURT ON HWY 11. A FEW LARGE TREE BRANCHES WERE BROKEN OFF. DAMAGE INDICATED PEAK WINDS AROUND 70 MPH.
03:07 UTCHAIL 17 W WarroadRoseau, MNWALL CLOUD ALSO REPORTED.
03:16 UTCHAIL 0.889 W WarroadRoseau, MNDIME TO NICKEL SIZE HAIL REPORTED.
03:21 UTCHAIL 16 W WarroadRoseau, MN

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

This ground now

The live radar over the trackEvery 2007 tornado in MinnesotaEvery tornado in Minnesota since 1950Warnings in force in Minnesota nowThe forecast where you are

The other tornadoes of June 24, 2007

4 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
June 241:58 PM EDTEF0Monroe, FL0.630$3,000
June 249:26 PM CDTEF0Roseau, MN0.225
June 249:59 PM CDTEF0Roseau, MN0.225
June 2410:35 PM CDTEF1Lake of the Woods, MN0.550

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.