Tornadoes · United States · Minnesota · 2022
EF1 tornado, Newfolden to Middle River, Minnesota, June 12, 2022
From Newfolden to Middle River, this EF1 tornado ran 2.7 miles across Marshall County on June 12, 2022, touching down at 3:48 PM CDT and reaching 300 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.
EF065 to 85 mph
Light damage. Surface peeled off some roofs, gutters and siding damaged, branches broken, shallow-rooted trees pushed over.
EF186 to 110 mphthis tornado
Moderate damage. Roofs badly stripped, mobile homes overturned or badly damaged, exterior doors lost, windows broken.
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.
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.
EF4166 to 200 mph
Devastating damage. Well-built houses leveled, structures with weak foundations moved some distance, cars thrown and large missiles generated.
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.
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
- EF1
- Date
- June 12, 2022
- Touchdown
- 3:48 PM CDT (20:48 UTC)
- Lifted
- 3:53 PM CDT (20:53 UTC)
- On the ground
- 5 minutes
- Path length
- 2.7 miles (4.3 km)
- Path width
- 300 yards (274 m)
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- County
- Marshall County
- Touchdown point
- 48.402, -96.274
- Lift-off point
- 48.414, -96.218
- Record number
- 2206121448-01
What the Weather Service recorded
Scattered severe thunderstorms produced large hail, damaging wind gusts, and tornadoes during the afternoon of June 12th.
This tornado was likely wrapped in heavy rain, hail and damaging winds as it tracked for roughly 2.5 miles to around 3 miles SSW of Middle River by 353 pm CDT. It snapped or uprooted numerous ash, poplar, and spruce trees at homesteads and groves along it's path. A total of 6 wooden power poles were snapped on north-south lines along 120th and 130th ave ne. Hail ranged in size from 1 to 2 inches in diameter. Peak winds estimated to 105 mph, with a max width of 300 yards.
From NOAA NCEI's Storm Events Database, the narrative the local forecast office wrote for Storm Data.
The warnings
8 minutes of warning. NWS FGF issued a tornado warning for this county at 20:40 UTC, 8 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 21:11 UTC.
| Issued (UTC) | Expired | Product | Office |
|---|---|---|---|
| 12:58 UTC | 13:45 UTC | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FGF |
| 13:39 UTC | 14:22 UTC | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FGF |
| 18:59 UTC | 20:00 UTC | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FGF |
| 20:28 UTC | 21:30 UTC | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FGF |
| 20:40 UTC | 21:11 UTC | Tornado Warning | FGF |
| 21:09 UTC | 22:15 UTC | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FGF |
| 21:59 UTC | 22:34 UTC | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FGF |
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 20:48 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.
International Fa, MN (KINL), 12:00Z
8.8 hours before the tornado, 218 km from the path. June 12, 2022.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 0 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -99419 J/kg
- Surface CAPE
- 0 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 1275 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 34 kt
- 0-1 km bulk shear
- 9 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 97 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 118 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
- 0-3 km lapse rate
- 4.6 K/km
International Fa, MN (KINL), 00:00Z
3.2 hours after it, 218 km from the path. June 13, 2022.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 0 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -86290 J/kg
- Surface CAPE
- 0 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 1529 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 42 kt
- 0-1 km bulk shear
- 21 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 101 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 296 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
- 0-3 km lapse rate
- 5.3 K/km
The radar
The Fargo/Grand Forks radar (KMVX), 127 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 20:49 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) | Report | Where | County | Remark |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 19:27 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 9 Wnw Stephen | Marshall, MN | A FEW TREES BROKN DOWN IN SHELTER BELTS ACROSS SOUTHEASTERN EAGLE POINT TOWNSHIP. TIME RANGED BETWEEN 225 AND 229 PM CDT BASED ON RADAR. |
| 20:31 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 4 Se Strandquist | Marshall, MN | A FEW POPLAR AND ASH TREES SNAPPED NEAR INTERSECTION OF HWY 59 AND CR6. TIME ESTIMATED BASED ON RADAR. |
| 20:48 UTC | TORNADO 1 | 3 Wsw Middle River | Marshall, MN | THE TORNADO WAS LIKELY WRAPPED IN HEAVY RAIN, HAIL, AND DAMAGING WINDS AS IT TRACKED FOR ROUGHLY 2.5 MILES TO AROUND 3 MILES SSW OF MIDDLE RIVER BY 353 PM CDT. IT SNAPPED OR UPROOTED NUMEOUS ASH, POPLAR, AND SPRUCE TREES |
| 20:52 UTC | HAIL 2 | 3 Ssw Middle River | Marshall, MN | WIND DRIVEN HAIL PUNCHED HOLES IN SIDING AND BROKE OUT SEVERAL WINDOWS ON THE WEST/NORTHWEST WALLS OF A HOUSE. HAIL STONES UP TO GOLF BALL SIZED WERE FOUND IN MELTING PILES EARLY THE FOLLOWING MORNING. |
| 20:53 UTC | HAIL 1.75 | 4.25 N Holt | Marshall, MN | DEPUTY REPORTED GOLF BALL SIZED HAIL AT THE CROSS ROADS OF HIGHWAY 32 AND COUNTY ROAD 28. |
| 20:53 UTC | HAIL 1.75 | 5 Nne Holt | Marshall, MN | DEPUTY REPORTED LARGE GOLF BALL SIZED HAIL AT THE INTERSECTION OF HWY 59 AND CR28. |
| 21:07 UTC | TSTM WND GST 65 | 7.5 Ne Holt | Marshall, MN | TRAINED WEATHER SPOTTER REPORTED 65MPH WIND GUSTS 7.5 MILES NORTHEAST OF HOLT. |
| 21:07 UTC | TSTM WND GST 65 | 7 Ne Holt | Marshall, MN | |
| 21:07 UTC | HAIL 1.5 | 6 Se Middle River | Marshall, MN | QUARTER TO PING PONG BALL SIZED HAIL WAS ACCUMULATING ON THE GROUND. |
| 21:07 UTC | HAIL 1.5 | 6 Se Middle River | Marshall, MN | QUARTER TO PING PONG SIZED HAIL REPORTED BY TRAINED WEATHER SPOTTER. HAIL WAS ACCUMULATING ON GROUND. |
| 21:42 UTC | TORNADO 0 | 6 E Goodridge | Pennington, MN | TORNADO TRACKED FOR LESS THAN A MINUTE THROUGH AN OPEN FIELD. THE GROUND BASED DUST SWIRL WAS FILMED OR PHOTOGRAPHED BY AT LEAST THREE SPOTTERS. A PERSISTANT AND LOW WALL CLOUD STRUCTURE WAS TRACKED INTO THE AREA AND WAS |
| 21:45 UTC | HAIL 1.25 | 3 Se Espelie | Marshall, MN | HAIL UP TO HALF DOLLAR SIZED ACROSS SOUTHEAST ESPELIE TOWNSHIP. TIME ESTIMATED BASED ON RADAR. |
| 21:52 UTC | FUNNEL CLOUD | 15 Sw Fourtown | Beltrami, MN | A PERSISTENT WALL CLOUD WAS OBSERVED AND FILMED FROM STATE HIGHWAY 1, WITH A BRIEF FUNNEL FORMING AND PASSING OVER THE HIGHWAY. |
| 22:10 UTC | TORNADO 0 | 9 Ene High Landing | Pennington, MN | TORNADO TRACKED FOR LESS THAN A MINUTE THROUGH AN OPEN FIELD. THE GROUND BASED DUST SWIRL WAS FILMED OR PHOTOGRAPHED BY AT LEAST THREE SPOTTERS. A PERSISTANT AND LOW WALL CLOUD STRUCTURE WAS TRACKED INTO THE AREA AND WAS |
| 22:10 UTC | TORNADO 1 | 6 Ene High Landing | Pennington, MN | REPORT OF A TORNADO FROM VIDEO THROUGH BROADCAST MEDIA FROM A SPOTTER. |
| 22:10 UTC | TORNADO | 6 Ene High Landing | Pennington, MN | CORRECTS PREVIOUS TORNADO REPORT FROM 6 ENE HIGH LANDING. REPORT OF A TORNADO FROM VIDEO THROUGH BROADCAST MEDIA FROM A SPOTTER. |
From the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service local storm reports.
This ground now
The live radar over the trackEvery 2022 tornado in MinnesotaEvery tornado in Minnesota since 1950Warnings in force in Minnesota nowThe forecast where you are
The other tornadoes of June 12, 2022
6 more were confirmed in the United States that day.
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.