Tornadoes · United States · Minnesota · 2007

EF0 tornado, Woodbury, Minnesota, September 20, 2007

This EF0 tornado ran 0.4 miles across Washington County on September 20, 2007, touching down at 6:30 PM CDT and reaching 50 yards wide. It killed nobody, and did $500,000 of property damage.

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 mphthis tornado

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

  2. EF186 to 110 mph

    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
EF0
Date
September 20, 2007
Touchdown
6:30 PM CDT (23:30 UTC)
Lifted
6:31 PM CDT (23:31 UTC)
On the ground
1 minutes
Path length
0.4 miles (0.6 km)
Path width
50 yards (46 m)
Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
$500,000
County
Washington County
Touchdown point
44.900, -92.950
Lift-off point
44.900, -92.950
Record number
0709201730-01

What the Weather Service recorded

Warm frontal boundary induced severe weather.

A National Weather Service storm survey confirmed an EF-0 tornado touched down in the southwestern portion of Woodbury, along Bailey Road.|It dissipated when it reached Woodlane Drive. The tornado caused damage to multiple townhouses, trees, and road signs.

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

The warnings

16 minutes of warning. NWS MPX issued a tornado warning for this county at 23:14 UTC, 16 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 23:45 UTC.

The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 20:45 UTC and running to 03:00 UTC.

Issued (UTC)ExpiredProductOffice
18:04 UTC12:00 UTCFlash Flood WatchMPX
20:45 UTC03:00 UTCTornado WatchMPX
23:07 UTC00:00 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningMPX
23:14 UTC23:45 UTCTornado WarningMPX
00:29 UTC01:03 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningMPX

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 19:42 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.

Minneapolis, MN (KMPX), 12:00Z

11.5 hours before the tornado, 52 km from the path. September 20, 2007.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Minneapolis, MN at 12:00Z on 2007-09-20Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 0 joules per kilogram, CIN -92067, lifted condensation level 1024 meters above ground. Wind barbs in knots down the right edge.LCL10008507005003002001001 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, Minneapolis, MN at 12:00Z on 2007-09-20The 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 215 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 42 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-92067 J/kg
Surface CAPE
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1024 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
42 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
24 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
215 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
291 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0
0-3 km lapse rate
2.1 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

Minneapolis, MN (KMPX), 00:00Z

0.5 hours after it, 52 km from the path. September 21, 2007.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Minneapolis, MN at 00:00Z on 2007-09-21Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 1394 joules per kilogram, CIN -85, lifted condensation level 838 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, Minneapolis, MN at 00:00Z on 2007-09-21The 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 192 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 60 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
1394 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-85 J/kg
Surface CAPE
285 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
838 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
60 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
28 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
192 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
567 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
24.8
0-3 km lapse rate
4.4 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The radar

The Minneapolis radar (KMPX), 49 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 23:29 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
22:08 UTCFLASH FLOODBloomingtonHennepin, MN6 TO 12 INCHES OF WATER ACROSS ROADWAY...83 ST SOUTH AND PENN AVE.
22:20 UTCHAIL 0.88PlymouthHennepin, MN
22:22 UTCHAIL 0.88Maple PlainHennepin, MN
22:27 UTCHAIL 0.75LorettoHennepin, MN
22:38 UTCHAIL 0.88PlymouthHennepin, MN
22:50 UTCTSTM WND DMGGolden ValleyHennepin, MNTREES DOWN...POWER OUT.
22:50 UTCHAIL 0.75New HopeHennepin, MN
22:50 UTCHAIL 1Golden ValleyHennepin, MN
23:02 UTCFUNNEL CLOUDNewportWashington, MNNEAR WAKOTA BRIDGE.
23:02 UTCHAIL 0.75New BrightonRamsey, MN
23:14 UTCFUNNEL CLOUDInver Grove HeightsDakota, MNAT SOUTHVIEW BLVD AND HWY 52.
23:14 UTCHAIL 0.88MinneapolisHennepin, MNI-35W AND 35TH STREET SOUTH.
23:18 UTCFUNNEL CLOUDEaganDakota, MNNEAR I-35E AND YANKEE DOODLE RD.
23:20 UTCFUNNEL CLOUDNewportWashington, MNNEAR WAKOTA BRIDGE.
23:20 UTCHAIL 0.75Brooklyn ParkHennepin, MN
23:25 UTCFUNNEL CLOUDInver Grove HeightsDakota, MNAT HWYS 13 AND 52
23:25 UTCHAIL 0.75BlaineAnoka, MN
23:25 UTCHAIL 1RogersHennepin, MNDIME TO QUARTER SIZE HAIL FELL FOR 5 MINUTES.
23:26 UTCHAIL 0.88RogersHennepin, MNINTERSECTION 494 AND 101.
23:30 UTCTORNADOWoodburyWashington, MNIT HAS BEEN DETERMINED BY THE NWS STORM SURVEY...THAT AN EF ZERO TORNADO OCCURRED AT APPROXIMATELY 630 PM...IN THE SOUTHWEST CORNER OF THE CITY OF WOODBURY MINNESOTA ALONG BAILEY ROAD...THURSDAY EVENING.
23:32 UTCFLASH FLOODSt PaulRamsey, MN6 TO 12 INCHES WATER ON UNIVERSITY AVE BETWEEN SNELLING AND RICE.
23:34 UTCFUNNEL CLOUDHastingsDakota, MNAT INTERSECTION OF 61 AND 10.
23:35 UTCTSTM WND DMGWoodburyWashington, MNLATE REPORT RECEIVED AT 715 PM. 25 FOOT SPRUCE TREE DOWN. 10 INCH LIMBS DOWN. STREET SIGNS DOWN.
23:37 UTCFLASH FLOODMinneapolisHennepin, MNSTORM SEWER GEYSER AT E RIVER RD AND PILLSBURY RD 10 TO 25 FEET.
23:37 UTCFLASH FLOODRichfieldHennepin, MN66TH AND PORTLAND S...2 FEET OF STANDING WATER AT INTERSECTION...2 STALLED CARS.
23:40 UTCHAIL 1AnokaAnoka, MN
23:42 UTCHAIL 0.75St PaulRamsey, MN
00:00 UTCHAIL 0.88Coon RapidsAnoka, MNHWY 10 AND MAIN STREET
00:03 UTCHAIL 1Coon RapidsAnoka, MN
00:11 UTCHAIL 1BlaineAnoka, 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 September 20, 2007

2 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
September 2010:57 PM EDTEF1Lake, FL1.8300$6.2 million
September 2012:20 AM EDTEF1Lafayette, FL0.335$2,000

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.