Tornadoes · United States · Minnesota

2012 tornadoes in Minnesota

36 tornadoes touched down in Minnesota in 2012, 25 percent above the average of the record for the state. None of them killed anybody.

2011 2013 The whole country in 2012

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 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.

Every tornado in Minnesota in 2012

March 19 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
March 196:25 PM CDTEF0Waseca6.5100$350,000

April 15 2 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
April 154:11 PM CDTEF0Lyon0.550
April 155:24 PM CDTEF0McLeod0.115

April 21 8 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
April 2112:35 PM CDTEF0Wilkin0.540$15,000
April 2112:41 PM CDTEF0Clay0.320$10,000
April 211:39 PM CDTEF0Stevens0.125
April 212:11 PM CDTEF1Otter Tail2.150$100,000
April 212:55 PM CDTEF0Chippewa0.475$100,000
April 213:23 PM CDTEF0Redwood0.375$250,000
April 213:28 PM CDTEF0Swift1.225
April 213:30 PM CDTEF0Douglas0.175$100,000

May 1 4 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
May 14:48 PM CDTEF0Pope0.150
May 14:56 PM CDTEF0Stearns0.975
May 15:05 PM CDTEF0Stearns2.175$100,000
May 15:40 PM CDTEF0Wright0.025

May 4 8 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
May 42:03 PM CDTEF0Nobles1.050
May 42:10 PM CDTEF0Nobles1.350
May 42:25 PM CDTEF0Nobles0.550
May 42:40 PM CDTEF0Jackson0.550
May 42:49 PM CDTEF0Jackson0.550
May 43:05 PM CDTEF0Jackson0.550
May 43:45 PM CDTEF0Martin0.125
May 45:45 PM CDTEF0Faribault3.450$250,000

June 3 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
June 37:20 PM CDTEF1Marshall3.540

June 10 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
June 108:15 PM CDTEF0Le Sueur2.250$255,000

June 17 4 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
June 176:52 PM CDTEF0Traverse0.15
June 177:02 PM CDTEF0Grant2.930
June 177:59 PM CDTEF0Chippewa0.110
June 178:43 PM CDTEF0Chippewa0.325

July 4 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
July 49:05 PM CDTEF1Wadena4.075

August 9 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
August 911:11 AM CDTEF0Saint Louis0.313

August 23 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
August 238:43 PM CDTEF0Carver3.2100$62,000

November 10 4 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
November 1010:58 PM CSTEF0Dakota2.8100$150,000
November 1011:05 PM CSTEF0Dakota0.550$50,000
November 1011:10 PM CSTEF0Dakota0.550$100,000
November 1011:21 PM CSTEF0Washington4.3100$200,000

Crossed into Minnesota

Tornadoes that touched down in a neighboring state and ran into Minnesota. They are counted under the state they began in.

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
June 36:07 PM CDTEF0Walsh, ND to MN6.140

Nearby

Every tornado in Minnesota since 1950Warnings in force in MinnesotaThe live radar over Minnesota

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.