Tornadoes · United States · Minnesota · 2010

EF0 tornado, Cloverdale, Minnesota, July 14, 2010

This EF0 tornado ran 0.3 miles across Pine County on July 14, 2010, touching down at 6:15 PM CDT and reaching 100 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 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
July 14, 2010
Touchdown
6:15 PM CDT (23:15 UTC)
Path length
0.3 miles (0.4 km)
Path width
100 yards (91 m)
Deaths
0
Injuries
0
County
Pine County
Touchdown point
45.992, -92.634
Lift-off point
45.992, -92.634
Record number
1007141715-01

What the Weather Service recorded

Two rounds of severe thunderstorms affected central and northeastern Minnesota. The first round occurred in the morning. An area of thunderstorms developed across central Minnesota, and quickly morphed into a squall line as it raced across the central part of the state. Damaging winds were noted just west of the Duluth area.||The second round of thunderstorms developed by mid afternoon, producing damaging winds and large hail in the Brainerd Lakes region. A weak tornado touched down briefly near the Pathfinder Village area of Pine County.

A tornado touched down briefly.

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

The warnings

11 minutes of warning. NWS DLH issued a tornado warning for this county at 23:04 UTC, 11 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 23:45 UTC.

The county was under a severe thunderstorm watch, issued at 20:53 UTC and running to 00:10 UTC.

Issued (UTC)ExpiredProductOffice
13:36 UTC14:30 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningDLH
14:06 UTC20:53 UTCTornado WatchDLH
14:27 UTC15:15 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningDLH
20:53 UTC00:10 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WatchDLH
22:53 UTC00:00 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningDLH
23:04 UTC23:45 UTCTornado WarningDLH

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 0.05 chance of a tornado within 25 miles. The outlook in force was issued at 20:00 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

11.3 hours before the tornado, 148 km from the path. July 14, 2010.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Minneapolis, MN at 12:00Z on 2010-07-14Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 2915 joules per kilogram, CIN -94, lifted condensation level 616 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 12:00Z on 2010-07-14The 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 282 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 31 knots.1939587897Sfc1 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
2915 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-94 J/kg
Surface CAPE
1334 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
616 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
31 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
26 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
282 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
379 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
16.3
0-3 km lapse rate
3.9 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

Minneapolis, MN (KMPX), 00:00Z

0.7 hours after it, 148 km from the path. July 15, 2010.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Minneapolis, MN at 00:00Z on 2010-07-15Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 3038 joules per kilogram, CIN -3, lifted condensation level 1237 meters above ground. Wind barbs in knots down the right edge.LCLEL10008507005003002001001 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 2010-07-15The 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 42 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 54 knots.1939587897Sfc1 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
3038 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-3 J/kg
Surface CAPE
4275 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1237 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
54 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
21 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
42 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
131 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
1.5
Supercell composite
9.6
0-3 km lapse rate
7.3 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The surface observations

Hinckley (04W), 20 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

Time (UTC)Temp (°F)Dew point (°F)WindGust (kt)Pressure (mb)Weather
21:34 UTC83.6674.84120° 7 kt1004.4
21:54 UTC83.4876140° 7 kt1004.4
22:14 UTC81.6875.38150° 7 kt1004.4
22:55 UTC78.875.2360° 8 kt171004.7-VCTSRA
23:14 UTC79.1674.84340° 4 kt1005.4
23:34 UTC79.5273350° 6 kt1005.4
23:54 UTC79.773310° 6 kt1006.1
00:14 UTC79.1672.68320° 4 kt1006.4
00:34 UTC79.1672.680° 0 kt1006.4
00:54 UTC8072.50° 0 kt1006.4
01:14 UTC79.5272.5270° 4 kt1006.4

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

The radar

The Duluth radar (KDLH), 99 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 23:16 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
23:00 UTCHEAVY RAIN 1.7SandstonePine, MNEVENT TOTAL RAINFALL THROUGH 6 PM.
23:15 UTCTORNADO5 Ese CloverdalePine, MNUNCONFIRMED PUBLIC REPORT OF A TORNADO TOUCHDOWN NEAR PATHFINDER VILLAGE EAST OF HINCKLEY NEAR HIGHWAY 48.

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

This ground now

The live radar over the trackEvery 2010 tornado in MinnesotaEvery tornado in Minnesota since 1950Warnings in force in Minnesota nowThe forecast where you are

The other tornadoes of July 14, 2010

14 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
July 144:00 AM EDTEF0Lehigh, PA2.2150$500,000
July 143:45 AM CDTEF1Ransom, ND7.0250$1.0 million
July 143:59 AM CDTEF2Ransom, ND9.1300$2.0 million
July 146:27 AM CDTEF1Otter Tail, MN8.4200$300,000
July 147:20 AM CDTEF0Wadena, MN1.0100
July 1410:54 AM CDTEF1Saint Croix, WI2.530$500,000
July 142:20 PM CDTEF0Dakota, MN3.575$20,000
July 142:32 PM CDTEF0Dakota, MN0.010$500
July 142:36 PM CDTEF1Dakota, MN1.7100$50,000
July 142:54 PM CDTEF2Pierce, WI15.2100$500,000
July 143:06 PM CDTEF0Dunn, WI0.620
July 143:08 PM CDTEF2Pierce, WI6.130$800,000
July 144:16 PM CDTEF1Jackson, WI30.8150$10,000
July 145:18 PM CDTEF0Wood, WI0.350

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.