Tornadoes · United States · Minnesota · 2019

EF0 tornado, Rustad, Minnesota, July 9, 2019

This EF0 tornado ran 0.5 miles across Clay County on July 9, 2019, touching down at 5:58 PM CDT and reaching 75 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 9, 2019
Touchdown
5:58 PM CDT (22:58 UTC)
Lifted
6:00 PM CDT (23:00 UTC)
On the ground
2 minutes
Path length
0.5 miles (0.8 km)
Path width
75 yards (69 m)
Deaths
0
Injuries
0
County
Clay County
Touchdown point
46.700, -96.740
Lift-off point
46.710, -96.730
Record number
1907091658-01

What the Weather Service recorded

Temperatures were only in the mid 70s by late in the afternoon of July 9th. However, dew points were around 70 degrees with a surface low and several boundaries over southeast North Dakota into west central Minnesota. Thunderstorms formed over southeast North Dakota and tracked east-northeast into adjacent areas of west central Minnesota. These storms produced numerous tornado and funnel cloud reports.

This tornado, the second tornado in this cyclic series (2A), made intermittent ground contact as it tracked northeast for about a half a mile, mainly over open fields. 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

14 minutes of warning. NWS FGF issued a tornado warning for this county at 22:44 UTC, 14 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 23:30 UTC.

Issued (UTC)ExpiredProductOffice
22:44 UTC23:30 UTCTornado WarningFGF
23:22 UTC23:45 UTCTornado WarningFGF
23:45 UTC00:15 UTCTornado WarningFGF
23:49 UTC02:00 UTCFlood AdvisoryFGF
02:32 UTC15:00 UTCFlood 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 Marginal Risk, with a 0.02 chance of a tornado within 25 miles. The outlook in force was issued at 19:55 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

11.0 hours before the tornado, 239 km from the path. July 9, 2019.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Aberdeen, SD at 12:00Z on 2019-07-09Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 5 joules per kilogram, CIN -80, lifted condensation level 923 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 12:00Z on 2019-07-09The 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 214 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 34 knots.193958Sfc1 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
5 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-80 J/kg
Surface CAPE
95 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
923 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
34 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
26 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
214 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
231 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0
0-3 km lapse rate
5.1 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

Aberdeen, SD (KABR), 00:00Z

1.0 hours after it, 239 km from the path. July 10, 2019.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Aberdeen, SD at 00:00Z on 2019-07-10Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 484 joules per kilogram, CIN -62, lifted condensation level 1600 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 2019-07-10The 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 14 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 31 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
484 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-62 J/kg
Surface CAPE
1836 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1600 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
31 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
7 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
14 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
32 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
-0.0
Supercell composite
-0.1
0-3 km lapse rate
7.2 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The surface observations

Moorhead Municipal (JKJ), 16 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

Time (UTC)Temp (°F)Dew point (°F)WindGust (kt)Pressure (mb)Weather
21:15 UTC75.268130° 15 kt1006.1
21:20 UTC73.466.2130° 15 kt1006.1VCTS
21:38 UTC73.466.2140° 9 kt161006.4
21:56 UTC75.268130° 8 kt1006.1
22:15 UTC75.269.8130° 6 kt1005.8
22:35 UTC75.269.8130° 9 kt1005.8VCTS
22:59 UTC73.469.80° 0 kt1006.1+VCTSRA
23:17 UTC66.259180° 4 kt201007.1+TSRA
23:35 UTC64.460.8170° 4 kt1005.1TSRA
23:36 UTC64.460.8180° 3 kt1005.1-TSRA
23:55 UTC66.262.6120° 11 kt1005.8TSRA
23:56 UTC66.262.6120° 11 kt1005.8TSRA
00:15 UTC66.262.6130° 7 kt1005.4TS
00:20 UTC66.262.6120° 9 kt1005.4TS
00:38 UTC6864.4130° 8 kt1005.8
00:56 UTC69.864.4150° 7 kt1006.1

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

The radar

The Fargo/Grand Forks radar (KMVX), 102 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 22:58 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
22:54 UTCFUNNEL CLOUDBreckenridgeWilkin, MNFUNNEL CLOUD NEARLY OVERHEAD.
22:57 UTCTORNADO 13 N BreckenridgeWilkin, MNTWIN FUNNELS MOVED ACROSS THE RED RIVER NORTH OF BRECKENRIDGE AND PRODUCED AT LEAST ONE DAMAGING TOUCHDOWN PATH. THIS TORNADO WAS SECOND WHICH FORMED IN THIS CYCLIC SERIES. IT TOUCHED DOWN NEAR HIGHWAY 75 AND TRACKED NOR
22:58 UTCTORNADO 02 S RustadClay, MNREPORT AND VIDEO SHOW INTERMITTENT GROUND CONTACTS AS THIS TORNADO THE SECOND TORNADO IN THIS CYCLIC SERIES. IT TRACKED TO THE NORTHEAST FOR ABOUT A HALF MILE OR SO, OVER MAINLY OPEN FIELDS. THE TORNADO LIKELY ENDED BY 6
22:58 UTCTORNADO2 S RustadClay, MNREPORT AND VIDEO SHOW INTERMITTENT GROUND CONTACTS FOR ABOUT A HALF MILE OR SO OVER MAINLY OPEN FIELDS. THE TORNADO LIKELY ENDED BY 6PM CDT.
23:03 UTCTORNADO3 N BreckenridgeWilkin, MNTORNADO ROPING OUT NNE OF WAHPETON OR NORTH OF BRECKENRIDGE.
23:20 UTCTORNADO 111 Ne BreckenridgeWilkin, MNTHE TORNADO IS THE THIRD TORNADO FORMED IN A CYCLIC SERIES. IT TRACKED FOR ABOUT A MILE TO ABOUT 8SW ROTHSAY BY 623 PM CDT. AT ONE POINT IT SNAPPED SEVERAL ASH TREES IN A FIELD SHELTERBELT. PEAK WINDS ESTIMATED TO 105 MP
23:30 UTCTORNADO 07 Wsw HawleyClay, MNTHIS TORNADO WAS THE THIRD TORNADO IN A CYCLIC SERIES. IT WAS LIKELY A PARTIALLY RAIN WRAPPED TORNADO AS IT TRACKED INTERMITTENTLY TO THE NORTHEAST FOR NEARLY 3 MILES, TO ABOUT 4 MILES WSW OF HAWLEY BY 638 PM CDT. THE TO
23:45 UTCTORNADO 12 Wsw ErhardOtter Tail, MNTHIS TORNADO TRACKED INTERMITTENTLY FOR ROUGHLY 2 MILES, ENDING IN CENTRAL ERHARD, BY ABOUT 651 PM CDT. THE TORNADO BROKE DOWN NUMEROUS LARGE TREE BRANCHES AND LIMBS IN SHELTER BELTS AND TREE CLAIMS ALONG ITS PATH. AN AS
23:48 UTCFUNNEL CLOUD2 N CarlisleOtter Tail, MNREPORT WITH PHOTO SENT. WALL CLOUD WITH WEAK AND BRIEF DIFFUSE FUNNEL.
23:50 UTCTSTM WND DMG1 E HawleyClay, MNA SNAPPED SPRUCE TREE WAS NOTED AT A HOMESTEAD SOUTH OF HIGHWAY 10.
23:54 UTCFUNNEL CLOUD6 Wsw HitterdalClay, MNA PERSISTENT WALL CLOUD PRODUCED A BRIEF FUNNEL.

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

This ground now

The live radar over the trackEvery 2019 tornado in MinnesotaEvery tornado in Minnesota since 1950Warnings in force in Minnesota nowThe forecast where you are

The other tornadoes of July 9, 2019

8 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
July 95:19 PM CDTEF1Richland, ND1.5100
July 95:30 PM CDTEF0Richland, ND0.250
July 95:57 PM CDTEF1Wilkin, MN2.0100
July 96:20 PM CDTEF1Wilkin, MN0.9150
July 96:30 PM CDTEF0Clay, MN3.0150
July 96:45 PM CDTEF1Otter Tail, MN2.0150
July 97:08 PM CDTUnratedScott, IA0.110
July 97:41 PM CDTUnratedScott, IA0.010

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.