Tornadoes · United States · Minnesota · 2008

EF1 tornado, Lake Itasca to Lake George, Minnesota, June 12, 2008

Name: EF1 tornado, Lake Itasca to Lake George, Minnesota, June 12, 2008
Start: 2008-06-13T01:50:00.000Z
End: 2008-06-13T02:00:00.000Z
Location: Lake Itasca to Lake George, Minnesota

From Lake Itasca to Lake George, this EF1 tornado ran 5.4 miles across Hubbard and Clearwater counties on June 12, 2008, touching down at 8:50 PM CDT and reaching 100 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.

EF065 to 85 mph
Light damage. Surface peeled off some roofs, gutters and siding damaged, branches broken, shallow-rooted trees pushed over.
EF186 to 110 mphthis tornado
Moderate damage. Roofs badly stripped, mobile homes overturned or badly damaged, exterior doors lost, windows broken.
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.
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.
EF4166 to 200 mph
Devastating damage. Well-built houses leveled, structures with weak foundations moved some distance, cars thrown and large missiles generated.
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.
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 12, 2008
Touchdown: 8:50 PM CDT (01:50 UTC)
Lifted: 9:00 PM CDT (02:00 UTC)
On the ground: 10 minutes
Path length: 5.4 miles (8.7 km)
Path width: 100 yards (91 m)
Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: $500,000
Crop damage: $120,000
Counties: Hubbard and Clearwater counties
Touchdown point: 47.142, -95.220
Lift-off point: 47.200, -95.128
Record number: 0806121950-01

What the Weather Service recorded

Severe thunderstorms developed across the northwestern quarter of Minnesota Thursday (12th) evening, ahead of a stacked low pressure system over northwest North Dakota. The best instability occurred to the east of the Red River Valley, along a surface trough. Cold temperatures aloft helped to contribute to the instability.

This tornado originated in Becker County at 844 pm CDT. It travelled about 2 miles across extreme southeast Clearwater County to around 5 miles south-southeast of Lake Itasca by 854 pm CDT. From there it continued into Hubbard County. Several large trees were knocked down or uprooted along its path. Peak winds were estimated to 105 mph.

This tornado originated in Becker County at 844 pm CDT and then crossed extreme southeast Clearwater County before entering Hubbard County. It travelled for an additional 3 miles into Hubbard County before lifting about 6 miles west of Lake George by 9 pm CDT. The total track length was nearly 8 miles. Several large trees were snapped off or uprooted near U.S. Highway 71. Peak winds were estimated to 105 mph.

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

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 Jun 12, 1:58 PM CDT, 6 hours 52 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jun 12, 1:58 PM CDT, 6 hours 52 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAND FORKS ND
158 PM CDT THU JUN 12 2008

.SHORT TERM...
THE CHALLENGE THROUGH THE FORECAST WILL BE CONVECTIVE CHANCES AND
TEMPS. A VIGOROUS UPPER LEVEL TROUGH CONTINUES TO SPIN OVER
EXTREME NW ND. MODELS ARE DOING A GOOD JOB OVERALL...BUT PREFER
THE COOLER GFS WHICH INITIALIZED WELL THIS MORNING.

FOR TONIGHT...EXPECT SCATTERED EVENING THUNDERSTORMS...SOME
POSSIBLY SEVERE WITH LARGE HAIL/DAMAGING WINDS. THE BEST
INSTABILITY APPEARS TO BE ALONG AND EAST OF THE VALLEY...AND THIS
SHOULD COINCIDE WITH A TROUGH MOVING THROUGH DEEP CYCLONIC FLOW.
THE LIMITING FACTOR TO SEVERE STORMS MAY BE MOISTURE
PROFILES...BUT WITH VERY COLD AIR ALOFT (-20C 500MB
TEMPS)...EXPECT AT LEAST A FEW SEVERE STORMS. SHEAR WILL ALSO BE
SUFFICIENT FOR STORMS TO BRIEFLY ROTATE...WHICH MAY ADD TO A MORE
ORGANIZED THREAT IF ENOUGH MOISTURE CAN POOL BEFORE CONVECTIVE
TEMPS ARE REACHED. WE WILL MENTION SEVERE STORMS IN THE GRIDS
THROUGH 03Z.

ON FRI...THE COLD CORE LOW WILL SKIRT THE INTERNATIONAL BORDER.
TEMPS WILL REMAIN WELL BELOW NORMAL...WITH VERY LOW CONVECTIVE
TEMPS AROUND 60. INSTABILITY FIELDS ARE RATHER WEAK...WITH LI/S TO
-1C AND MAYBE CAPE TO AROUND 400 J/KG. GIVEN THE COLD AIR ALOFT
THOUGH AND STEEP LAPSE RATES...THUNDER WILL ONCE AGAIN BE POSSIBLE.

ON SAT/SUN...THE CONTINUED THREAT FOR AFTERNOON THUNDER IS
EXPECTED. THERE WILL BE MORE INSTABILITY ON SAT...WITH CAPES
APPROACHING 1000 J/KG. A FAIRLY STRONG SHORTWAVE AND A WEAK SFC
BOUNDARY IS ALSO PROGGED BY SAT AFTERNOON...SO A FEW SEVERE STORMS
ALSO POSSIBLE. FOR SUNDAY...ANOTHER COLD FRONT WILL PASS THROUGH
THE NORTH...AND LIKELY AID MORE THUNDERSTORM DEVELOPMENT DURING
THE AFTERNOON. THEREFORE...THE ACTIVE WEATHER PATTERN WILL
CONTINUE WITH CHANCES FOR SHOWERS/THUNDER THROUGHOUT AND TEMPS
BELOW NORMAL.

.LONG TERM (MON-THU)...MODELS IN REASONABLE AGREEMENT THROUGH THE
PERIOD. MAIN IDEA IS FOR A BRIEF RIDGE TO AFFECT THE REGION THROUGH
AT LEAST WED. MODELS DIFFER WITH AMPLITUDE AND TIMING OF WAVES TO
BREAK DOWN THIS FEATURE. WILL MAINTAIN DRY FORECAST THROUGH MUCH OF
THE PERIOD WITH A SLIGHT CHANCE FOR PRECIP TOWARD THE END OF THE
PERIOD AS RIDGE BREAKS DOWN. TEMPERATURES SHOULD BE NEAR NORMAL.

&&

.AVIATION...MAIN CHALLENGE WILL BE TSRA POTENTIAL...WHICH IS PRESENT
FOR ALL TAF SITES. EXPECT VFR WITH CU AND ISOLD-SCT TSRA INTO THIS
EVENING. WINDS WILL BE SOUTHWEST 15-25KTS WITH A FEW HIGHER GUSTS
INTO THIS EVENING AS WELL. THERE IS A RATHER GOOD CHANCE FOR MVFR
CLOUD HEIGHTS BY MORNING (BEST CHANCES CLOSER TO THE INTERNATIONAL
BORDER).

&&

.FGF WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
ND...NONE.
MN...NONE.
&&

DK/TG

Hazardous weather outlook, Jun 12, 5:09 AM CDT, 15 hours 41 minutes before

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAND FORKS ND
509 AM CDT THU JUN 12 2008

MNZ001>009-013>017-022>024-027>032-040-NDZ006>008-014>016-024-
026>030-038-039-049-052>054-131015-
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-
509 AM CDT THU JUN 12 2008

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF EASTERN NORTH
DAKOTA...WEST CENTRAL AND NORTHWEST MINNESOTA.

.DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT

A FEW THUNDERSTORMS THIS AFTERNOON AND EARLY EVENING MAY PRODUCE LARGE
HAIL AND STRONG GUSTY WINDS.

AN UPPER LOWOVER NORTHWEST NORTH DAKOTA WILL MOVE EAST TODAY WITH
COLDER AIR MOVING INTO THE AREA IN THE MID LEVELS OF THE
ATMOSPHERE. ALTHOUGH MOISTURE IS LESS THAN ON WEDNESDAY...THE COLD
AIR ALOFT WILL CREATE ENOUGH INSTABILITY FOR AFTERNOON AND EARLY
EVENING SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS ACROSS THE ENTIRE AREA.  THE MAIN
THREAT TIME IS BETWEEN 3 PM AND 7 PM.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...FRIDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY

NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. RIVERS WILL REMAIN
HIGH IN THE SOUTHERN RED RIVER VALLEY THROUGH THE PERIOD DUE TO
RECENT RAINS. SEE THE LATEST FLOOD STATEMENTS FOR UPDATED
INFORMATION.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE NEEDED THIS AFTERNOON AND EARLY EVENING.

DTR

In the hours before

Local storm report, Jun 12, 7:35 PM CDT, 1 hour 15 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE EASTERN ND/GRAND FORKS ND
735 PM CDT THU JUN 12 2008

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0710 PM     HAIL             3 NE PARK RAPIDS        46.95N 95.02W
06/12/2008  E1.75 INCH       HUBBARD            MN   LAW ENFORCEMENT

&&

PROGERS

Local storm report, Jun 12, 7:37 PM CDT, 1 hour 13 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE EASTERN ND/GRAND FORKS ND
737 PM CDT THU JUN 12 2008

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0725 PM     FUNNEL CLOUD     VERNDALE                46.40N 95.01W
06/12/2008                   WADENA             MN   TRAINED SPOTTER

&&

PROGERS

Local storm report, Jun 12, 7:38 PM CDT, 1 hour 12 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE EASTERN ND/GRAND FORKS ND
738 PM CDT THU JUN 12 2008

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0730 PM     HAIL             LAPORTE                 47.21N 94.76W
06/12/2008  E0.75 INCH       HUBBARD            MN   STORM CHASER

&&

PROGERS

Local storm report, Jun 12, 7:40 PM CDT, 1 hour 10 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE EASTERN ND/GRAND FORKS ND
740 PM CDT THU JUN 12 2008

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0737 PM     HAIL             5 N SHEVLIN             47.60N 95.26W
06/12/2008  E1.00 INCH       CLEARWATER         MN   TRAINED SPOTTER

&&

PROGERS

Local storm report, Jun 12, 8:04 PM CDT, 46 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE EASTERN ND/GRAND FORKS ND
804 PM CDT THU JUN 12 2008

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0759 PM     FUNNEL CLOUD     3 N FRAZEE              46.77N 95.70W
06/12/2008                   BECKER             MN   TRAINED SPOTTER

&&

PROGERS

Local storm report, Jun 12, 8:29 PM CDT, 21 minutes before

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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

1.8 hours before the tornado, 209 km from the path. June 13, 2008.

Skew-T log-p

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.

Hodograph

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: 308 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -18 J/kg
Surface CAPE: 443 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 1911 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 44 kt
0-1 km bulk shear: 3 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 14 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 63 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 0.1
0-3 km lapse rate: 8.7 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

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

10.2 hours after it, 209 km from the path. June 13, 2008.

Skew-T log-p

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.

Hodograph

Mixed-layer CAPE: 4 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -62 J/kg
Surface CAPE: 0 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 945 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 42 kt
0-1 km bulk shear: 19 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 40 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 80 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 0.0
0-3 km lapse rate: 6.1 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The surface observations

Park Rapids (PKD), 31 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

Time (UTC)	Temp (°F)	Dew point (°F)	Wind	Gust (kt)	Pressure (mb)	Weather
00:00 UTC

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

The radar

The Fargo/Grand Forks radar (KMVX), 167 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 01:50 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.

This ground now

The live radar over the track Every 2008 tornado in Minnesota Every tornado in Minnesota since 1950 Warnings in force in Minnesota now The forecast where you are

The other tornadoes of June 12, 2008

26 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Damage
June 12	2:29 PM CDT	EF0	Grant, WI	0.3	50	$3,000
June 12	4:12 PM CDT	EF0	Sullivan, MO	0.2	25
June 12	4:13 PM CDT	EF0	Putnam, MO	0.2	25
June 12	4:34 PM CDT	EF0	Columbia, WI	5.3	50
June 12	4:42 PM CDT	EF0	Green Lake, WI	0.2	20
June 12	4:55 PM CDT	EF0	Davis, IA	1.3	50
June 12	5:01 PM CDT	EF1	Green, WI	1.6	50
June 12	5:15 PM CDT	EF1	Green, WI	12.3	100
June 12	5:30 PM CDT	EF0	Green, WI	1.3	50
June 12	5:53 PM CDT	EF0	Van Buren, IA	0.0	25
June 12	6:05 PM CDT	EF0	Shawnee, KS	0.3	25
June 12	6:19 PM CDT	EF0	Dane, WI	2.6	50
June 12	6:25 PM CDT	EF0	Dodge, WI	0.1	20
June 12	6:33 PM CDT	EF0	Chase, KS	3.5	75	$50,000
June 12	6:40 PM CDT	EF0	Becker, MN	1.8	25	$100,000
June 12	7:00 PM CDT	EF0	Lyon, KS	0.1	25
June 12	7:00 PM CDT	EF0	Chase, KS	8.0	75
June 12	7:14 PM CDT	EF1	Hubbard, MN	1.5	50	$300,000
June 12	7:26 PM CDT	EF0	Rock Island, IL	0.0	25
June 12	8:05 PM CDT	EF0	Leavenworth, KS	0.2	25
June 12	9:26 PM EDT	EF1	Mason, MI	1.3	300
June 12	8:35 PM CDT	EF0	Sedgwick, KS	0.1	40	$750
June 12	8:44 PM CDT	EF1	Becker, MN	3.1	100	$200,000
June 12	9:45 PM EDT	EF0	Manistee, MI	1.0	425	$15,000
June 12	11:06 PM CDT	EF1	Cowley, KS	2.1	75	$125,000
June 12	12:30 AM CDT	EF1	Boone, IL	6.2	150	$25,000

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.