Tornadoes · United States · Minnesota · 2012

EF0 tornado, Charlesville, Minnesota, June 17, 2012

This EF0 tornado ran 0.1 miles across Traverse County on June 17, 2012, touching down at 6:52 PM CDT and reaching 5 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 17, 2012
Touchdown
6:52 PM CDT (23:52 UTC)
Lifted
6:53 PM CDT (23:53 UTC)
On the ground
1 minutes
Path length
0.1 miles (0.1 km)
Path width
5 yards (5 m)
Deaths
0
Injuries
0
County
Traverse County
Touchdown point
45.920, -96.340
Lift-off point
45.920, -96.340
Record number
1206171752-01

What the Weather Service recorded

A strong warm front brought severe thunderstorms to west central Minnesota with very damaging winds occurring across the region.

Brief touchdown in a field.

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

The warnings

10 minutes of warning. NWS ABR issued a tornado warning for this county at 23:42 UTC, 10 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 00:15 UTC.

The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 20:46 UTC and running to 03:00 UTC.

Issued (UTC)ExpiredProductOffice
20:46 UTC03:00 UTCTornado WatchABR
22:50 UTC23:30 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningABR
23:05 UTC23:45 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningABR
23:32 UTC00:00 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningABR
23:40 UTC00:45 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningABR
23:42 UTC00:15 UTCTornado WarningABR
23:46 UTC00:20 UTCTornado WarningABR
00:18 UTC00:45 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningABR

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 Moderate Risk, with a 0.10 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.

Aberdeen, SD (KABR), 12:00Z

11.9 hours before the tornado, 197 km from the path. June 17, 2012.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Aberdeen, SD at 12:00Z on 2012-06-17Temperature 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 -30678, lifted condensation level 2160 meters above ground. Wind barbs in knots down the right edge.LCL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°0°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, Aberdeen, SD at 12:00Z on 2012-06-17The 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 301 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
-30678 J/kg
Surface CAPE
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
2160 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
42 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
31 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
301 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
545 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0
0-3 km lapse rate
4.2 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

Aberdeen, SD (KABR), 00:00Z

0.1 hours after it, 197 km from the path. June 18, 2012.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Aberdeen, SD at 00:00Z on 2012-06-18Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 985 joules per kilogram, CIN -159, lifted condensation level 1934 meters above ground. Wind barbs in knots down the right edge.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°0°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, Aberdeen, SD at 00:00Z on 2012-06-18The 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 -60 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 47 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
985 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-159 J/kg
Surface CAPE
734 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1934 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
47 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
26 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-60 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
58 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
3.7
0-3 km lapse rate
6.2 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The surface observations

Wheaton Ndb (ETH), 22 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

Time (UTC)Temp (°F)Dew point (°F)WindGust (kt)Pressure (mb)Weather
21:56 UTC82.466.2140° 19 kt22997.6
22:16 UTC80.666.2140° 19 kt24997.3
22:36 UTC78.864.4130° 18 kt23995.9
22:55 UTC75.262.6120° 21 kt28993.6-VCTSRA
23:16 UTC7762.6120° 12 kt22994.6-TSRA
23:36 UTC75.262.630° 4 kt15994.9-VCTSRA
23:55 UTC6862.610° 20 kt27994.6+VCTSRA
00:15 UTC64.462.6330° 14 kt31997.3+TSRA
00:36 UTC66.264.480° 12 kt995.3-VCTSRA
00:56 UTC64.462.6100° 9 kt994.9
01:15 UTC64.462.650° 8 kt994.9
01:36 UTC64.462.680° 10 kt994.2

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

The radar

The Aberdeen radar (KABR), 169 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 23:49 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
23:17 UTCHAIL 11 Sw FoxhomeWilkin, MNQUARTER SIZED HAIL FOR ABOUT 5 MINUTES
23:43 UTCFUNNEL CLOUD6 Nw HermanGrant, MN
23:50 UTCTSTM WND DMGHermanGrant, MNTREE BRANCH THE SIZE OF A PERSONS BELLY BROKEN OFF
23:52 UTCTORNADO11 Ne WheatonTraverse, MN
23:52 UTCTORNADO5 E WheatonTraverse, MN
23:55 UTCHAIL 0.88BreckenridgeWilkin, MNREPORT RECEIVED VIA FACEBOOK.
23:56 UTCFUNNEL CLOUD3 Wnw NorcrossGrant, MNA PERSISTENT FUNNEL WAS SEEN APPROACHING THE NORCROSS AREA FROM EASTERN TRAVERSE COUNTY FOR SEVERAL MINUTES BEFORE IT CROSSED INTO WESTERN GRANT COUNTY.
00:02 UTCTORNADO 02 Nw NorcrossGrant, MNA WEAK TORNADO TOUCHED DOWN JUST WEST OF HWY 9 AND TRACKED INTERMITTENTLY EASTWARD FOR ABOUT 3 MILES TO NEAR 2 NE OF NORCROSS BY 713 PM CDT. THIS TORNADO BROKE DOWN SEVERAL LARGE TREE BRANCHES AND A FEW TREE LIMBS IN SHE
00:30 UTCTSTM WND DMG7 Ene GracevilleTraverse, MN12 INCH DIAMETER TREE BLOWN DOWN. WINDS ESTIMATED OVER 60 MPH.
00:30 UTCTSTM WND DMG8 Nw GracevilleTraverse, MN12 INCH DIAMETER TREE BLOWN DOWN. WINDS ESTIMATED OVER 60 MPH.

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

This ground now

The live radar over the trackEvery 2012 tornado in MinnesotaEvery tornado in Minnesota since 1950Warnings in force in Minnesota nowThe forecast where you are

The other tornadoes of June 17, 2012

5 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
June 177:00 PM CDTEF0Roberts, SD0.05
June 177:02 PM CDTEF0Grant, MN2.930
June 177:53 PM CDTEF1Roberts, SD0.310
June 177:59 PM CDTEF0Chippewa, MN0.110
June 178:43 PM CDTEF0Chippewa, MN0.325

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.