Tornadoes · United States · Minnesota · 2010

EF0 tornado, St Patrick to New Market, Minnesota, June 26, 2010

From St Patrick to New Market, this EF0 tornado ran 1.9 miles across Scott County on June 26, 2010, touching down at 9:35 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 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
June 26, 2010
Touchdown
9:35 PM CDT (02:35 UTC)
Lifted
9:39 PM CDT (02:39 UTC)
On the ground
4 minutes
Path length
1.9 miles (3.0 km)
Path width
50 yards (46 m)
Deaths
0
Injuries
0
County
Scott County
Touchdown point
44.580, -93.435
Lift-off point
44.585, -93.398
Record number
1006262035-01

What the Weather Service recorded

A small thunderstorm complex in eastern South Dakota moved into west central Minnesota during the late afternoon hours of Saturday June 26th. This small complex of thunderstorms quickly became severe and bowed out across southern Minnesota during the late afternoon and evening hours. Numerous reports of high winds, large hail, and isolated tornadoes along the leading edge of this squall line/bow echo from far west-central Minnesota, near Canby, eastward across south central and portions of east central Minnesota, south of the Twin Cities. Flash flooding also became a concern as rainfall rates were as high as 1.5 inches per hour that caused several areas in southern Minnesota to have signficant street flooding that led to stalled cars.

The tornado struck several groves of trees, snapping some near the base. It also ripped the top of a silo, spreading tin into an adjacent field. A garage door was also pushed inward.

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

The warnings

24 minutes of warning. NWS MPX issued a tornado warning for this county at 02:11 UTC, 24 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 02:45 UTC.

The county was under a severe thunderstorm watch, issued at 01:02 UTC and running to 03:16 UTC.

Issued (UTC)ExpiredProductOffice
23:05 UTC01:00 UTCTornado WatchMPX
00:00 UTC07:53 UTCFlash Flood WatchMPX
01:02 UTC03:16 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WatchMPX
01:22 UTC02:15 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningMPX
01:50 UTC06:25 UTCFlash Flood WarningMPX
01:51 UTC03:15 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningMPX
02:11 UTC02:45 UTCTornado WarningMPX
02:42 UTC02:58 UTCTornado 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 0.05 chance of a tornado within 25 miles. The outlook in force was issued at 00:58 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), 00:00Z

2.6 hours before the tornado, 33 km from the path. June 27, 2010.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Minneapolis, MN at 00:00Z on 2010-06-27Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 1959 joules per kilogram, CIN -106, lifted condensation level 876 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 2010-06-27The 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 -6 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 32 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
1959 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-106 J/kg
Surface CAPE
2965 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
876 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
32 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
8 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-6 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
34 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
-0.1
Supercell composite
-0.6
0-3 km lapse rate
5.8 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

Minneapolis, MN (KMPX), 12:00Z

9.4 hours after it, 33 km from the path. June 27, 2010.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Minneapolis, MN at 12:00Z on 2010-06-27Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 153 joules per kilogram, CIN -181, lifted condensation level 548 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 2010-06-27The 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 -8 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 28 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
153 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-181 J/kg
Surface CAPE
190 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
548 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
28 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
12 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-8 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
87 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0
0-3 km lapse rate
4.4 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The radar

The Minneapolis radar (KMPX), 32 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 02:32 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
02:02 UTCTSTM WND GST 562 Nnw St PeterNicollet, MN
02:11 UTCTORNADO3 W HeidelbergLe Sueur, MNDAMAGE SURVEY DETERMINED TORNADO PRODUCED EF0 DAMAGE. TRAVELED FOR 0.5 MILE TO THE EAST...DESTROYING TWO CHICKEN SHEDS...TAKING THE ROOF OFF OF ANOTHER SHED...AND DOWNING SEVERAL TREES.
02:15 UTCTSTM WND DMG2 E HendersonLe Sueur, MNSCATTERED TREES DOWN.
02:20 UTCTORNADO1 S New PragueLe Sueur, MNDAMAGE SURVEY DETERMINED TORNADO PRODUCED EF-0 DAMAGE. TRAVELED FOR 1.25 MILES TO THE EAST...PARTIALLY REMOVING SIDING FROM HOUSES...SOFFITS...AND DENTING SEVERAL GARAGE DOORS. ALSO BROKE A COUPLE DOZEN TREES.
02:22 UTCTSTM WND GST 604 W Belle PlaineScott, MN
02:27 UTCTSTM WND GST 72Belle PlaineScott, MNMNDOT RWIS ROAD SENSOR.
02:35 UTCTSTM WND DMGClevelandLe Sueur, MNSCATTERED TREES DOWN.
02:35 UTCTORNADO4 W New MarketScott, MNAN NWS STORM SURVEY TEAM DETERMINED THAT AN EF-0 TORNADO OCCURRED. SEVERAL GROVES OF TREES WERE SNAPPED OFF NEAR THE BASE. THE TOP OF A SILO WAS ALSO RIPPED OFF...AND A GARAGE DOOR WAS PUSHED INWARD.
02:44 UTCTSTM WND GST 60WasecaWaseca, MN
02:55 UTCHAIL 0.75MorristownRice, MN
03:05 UTCTSTM WND DMGFaribaultRice, MNPOWER LINES DOWN.
03:11 UTCFLASH FLOODFaribaultRice, MNWATER OVER CURBS.
03:15 UTCTSTM WND DMG3 S LakevilleDakota, MNTREE DOWN ON POWER LINE.
03:15 UTCFLASH FLOODBurnsvilleDakota, MNNUMEROUS STRANDED CARS LAKEVILLE TO BURNSVILLE.
03:20 UTCFLASH FLOODPrior LakeScott, MNEAGLE CREEK ROAD AND GRAINWOOD ROAD FLOODED CARS STALLED
03:30 UTCFLASH FLOODFaribaultRice, MNWATER UP TO 2 FEET IN STREETS.
03:40 UTCTSTM WND DMG5 Sw WelchGoodhue, MNA COUPLE 4 TO 6 INCH TREES BLOWN DOWN...NUMEROUS BRANCHES TWISTED OFF TREE TOPS.
03:40 UTCFLASH FLOOD4 Wsw Belle PlaineScott, MNRETAINING WALL COLLAPSED CAUSING MUD AND LOGS ON ROAD
03:40 UTCFLASH FLOODBelle PlaineScott, MNENTERPRISE AND HICKORY ROAD FLOODED CARS STALLED
03:40 UTCNON-TSTM WND DMG5 Sw WelchGoodhue, MNA COUPLE 4 TO 6 INCH TREES BLOWN DOWN...NUMEROUS BRANCHES TWISTED OFF TREE TOPS.
03:50 UTCFLASH FLOODBloomingtonHennepin, MNWATER TO TOPS OF TIRES CARS STRANDED EAST OF OLD SHAKOPEE RD AND FRANCE AVE.
04:00 UTCFLASH FLOODShakopeeScott, MNCO RD 83 AND VALLEY VIEW RD CARS STALLED ROAD FLOODED.
04:00 UTCFLASH FLOODSt PaulRamsey, MNLEXINGTON AVE AND JULIET ROAD ROAD FLOODING
04:30 UTCFLASH FLOODBloomingtonHennepin, MNNICOLLET RD SOUTH OF AMERICAN BLVD CLOSED

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 June 26, 2010

12 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
June 264:21 PM CDTEF1Walsh, ND6.0200
June 265:27 PM CDTEF0Hutchinson, SD0.150
June 265:47 PM CDTEF1Marshall, MN3.0100
June 266:02 PM CDTEF0Miner, SD0.350
June 268:12 PM CDTEF0Osceola, IA0.150
June 268:15 PM CDTEF0Osceola, IA0.150
June 268:45 PM CDTEF0Polk, MN8.150
June 269:11 PM CDTEF0Le Sueur, MN0.325
June 269:20 PM CDTEF0Le Sueur, MN1.450
June 269:24 PM CDTEF0Faribault, MN2.730
June 269:38 PM CDTEF0Faribault, MN0.530
June 269:47 PM CDTEF0Faribault, MN0.850

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.