Tornadoes · United States · Minnesota · 2017

EF0 tornado, Breckenridge to Foxhome, Minnesota, June 21, 2017

From Breckenridge to Foxhome, this EF0 tornado ran 1.3 miles across Wilkin County on June 21, 2017, touching down at 6:39 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
June 21, 2017
Touchdown
6:39 PM CDT (23:39 UTC)
Lifted
6:42 PM CDT (23:42 UTC)
On the ground
3 minutes
Path length
1.3 miles (2.1 km)
Path width
100 yards (91 m)
Deaths
0
Injuries
0
County
Wilkin County
Touchdown point
46.300, -96.290
Lift-off point
46.318, -96.283
Record number
1706211739-01

What the Weather Service recorded

During the early evening of June 21st, a line of thunderstorms developed from Thief River Falls, Minnesota, to the Fargo-Moorhead area, then southwest toward Forman, North Dakota. On the surface map, this was mainly a wind shift line. These storms pushed nearly straight to the east, producing tornadoes, strong wind gusts, and large hail.

Video and photographic evidence showed that this tornado produced a sizable dust plume, but no damage of note. Peak winds were estimated at 70 mph.

This tornado touchdown was viewed and photographed though it was enshrouded in either dust or rain at times. Peak winds were estimated at 75 mph.

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

The warnings

18 minutes of warning. NWS FGF issued a tornado warning for this county at 23:21 UTC, 18 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 23:45 UTC.

The county was under a severe thunderstorm watch, issued at 22:09 UTC and running to 03:00 UTC.

Issued (UTC)ExpiredProductOffice
22:09 UTC03:00 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WatchFGF
23:21 UTC23:45 UTCTornado WarningFGF
23:41 UTC00:05 UTCTornado WarningFGF

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 0.02 chance of a tornado within 25 miles. The outlook in force was issued at 19:56 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

11.7 hours before the tornado, 227 km from the path. June 21, 2017.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Aberdeen, SD at 12:00Z on 2017-06-21Temperature 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 -91849, lifted condensation level 1956 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 2017-06-21The 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 241 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 67 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
-91849 J/kg
Surface CAPE
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1956 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
67 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
21 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
241 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
346 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0
0-3 km lapse rate
3.9 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

Aberdeen, SD (KABR), 00:00Z

0.3 hours after it, 227 km from the path. June 22, 2017.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Aberdeen, SD at 00:00Z on 2017-06-22Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 406 joules per kilogram, CIN -75, lifted condensation level 2235 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 2017-06-22The 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 16 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 58 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
406 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-75 J/kg
Surface CAPE
1548 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
2235 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
58 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
28 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
16 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
96 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.3
0-3 km lapse rate
6.3 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The radar

The Fargo/Grand Forks radar (KMVX), 157 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 23:39 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
22:58 UTCTSTM WND GST 482 Ne SabinClay, MNNDAWN STATION 2 NE SABIN.
23:14 UTCTSTM WND GST 446 N WahpetonWilkin, MNNDAWN STATION 6 N WAHPETON.
23:20 UTCFUNNEL CLOUD1 Se BrushvaleWilkin, MNWELL DEVELOPED WALL CLOUD WITH FUNNEL DEVELOPING.
23:24 UTCTORNADO 06 Nne BreckenridgeWilkin, MNVIDEO AND PHOTOGRAPHIC EVIDENCE SHOW THAT THIS TORNADO TOUCHED DOWN AND TRACKED TO THE EAST SOUTHEAST OVER OPEN FIELDS FOR A HALF MILE OF LESS...AND ENDED BY AROUND 625 PM CDT. NO DAMAGE WAS NOTED THOUGH A SIZABLE DUST P
23:39 UTCTORNADO 02 Nne FoxhomeWilkin, MNTHE TORNADO TOUCHDOWN WAS VIEWED AND PHOTOGRAPHED THOUGH IT WAS ENSHROUDED IN EITHER DUST OR RAIN AT TIMES. THIS TORNADO APPEARED TO TRACK INTERMITTENTLY FOR ABOUT 1.5 MILES TO ABOUT 2 NE OF FOXHOME BY 642 PM CDT. PEAK W
23:39 UTCTORNADO1 Ne FoxhomeWilkin, MNMULTIPLE WITNESSES TO TORNADO TOUCHDOWN. TORNADO WAS RAIN WRAPPED AT THE TIME OF TOUCHDOWN.
23:50 UTCTSTM WND DMG2 Nw Fergus FallsOtter Tail, MNVEHICLE BLOWN OFF THE ROAD.
23:54 UTCTSTM WND GST 743 S Fergus FallsOtter Tail, MNPEAK WIND MEASURED AT THE FERGUS FAKKS AIRPORT.
23:54 UTCTSTM WND GST 743 S Fergus FallsOtter Tail, MNPEAK WIND MEASURED AT THE FERGUS FALLS AIRPORT.
23:54 UTCTSTM WND GST 743 W Fergus FallsOtter Tail, MNPEAK WIND MEASURED AT THE FERGUS FALLS AIRPORT.
00:01 UTCTSTM WND GST 732 Se Fergus FallsOtter Tail, MNPEAK WINDS MEASURED AT THE PRAIRIE WETLANDS LEARNING CENTER.
00:04 UTCTSTM WND DMG5 Nw DaltonOtter Tail, MNA LARGE EVERGREEN TREE WAS SNAPPED ABOUT HALFWAY DOWN. REPORT POSTED VIA SOCIAL MEDIA. POWER OUTAGES OCCURRED ACROSS THE AREA.
00:05 UTCHAIL 14 Nw DaltonOtter Tail, MNDIME TO QUARTER SIZED HAIL FELL ACROSS SOUTHERN DANE PRAIRIE TOWNSHIP. SOME SMALLER TREE BRANCHES BROKEN DOWN.

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

This ground now

The live radar over the trackEvery 2017 tornado in MinnesotaEvery tornado in Minnesota since 1950Warnings in force in Minnesota nowThe forecast where you are

The other tornadoes of June 21, 2017

8 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
June 216:18 AM CDTEF0Okaloosa, FL2.575$40,000
June 218:25 AM CDTEF0Harrison, MS4.275
June 2112:55 PM CDTEF0Saint John the Baptist Parish, LA1.950
June 213:02 PM CDTEF0Baldwin, AL0.125
June 213:08 PM CDTEF0Escambia, AL0.825
June 216:24 PM CDTEF0Wilkin, MN0.575
June 216:57 PM CDTEF1Covington, AL4.875$50,000
June 218:35 PM CDTEF0Clarke, AL0.125$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.