Tornadoes · United States · Minnesota · 2022

EF0 tornado, Erie, Minnesota, June 12, 2022

This EF0 tornado ran 0.8 miles across Pennington County on June 12, 2022, touching down at 5:10 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
June 12, 2022
Touchdown
5:10 PM CDT (22:10 UTC)
Lifted
5:11 PM CDT (22:11 UTC)
On the ground
1 minutes
Path length
0.8 miles (1.3 km)
Path width
75 yards (69 m)
Deaths
0
Injuries
0
County
Pennington County
Touchdown point
48.100, -95.630
Lift-off point
48.106, -95.616
Record number
2206121610-01

What the Weather Service recorded

Scattered severe thunderstorms produced large hail, damaging wind gusts, and tornadoes during the afternoon of June 12th.

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 persistent and low wall cloud structure was tracked into the area and was above the swirl, with only a brief condensation cone apparent. First reported via social media and through broadcast media sources. Time estimated based on radar, along with photo and video records. Peak winds estimated to 70 mph, with a maximum width to 75 yards.

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

The warnings

No tornado warning for this county appears in the archive as in force at the moment the tornado touched down.

Issued (UTC)ExpiredProductOffice
12:58 UTC13:45 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGF
13:39 UTC14:22 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGF
21:09 UTC22:15 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningFGF
21:59 UTC22:34 UTCSevere Thunderstorm 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 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

10.2 hours before the tornado, 179 km from the path. June 12, 2022.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, International Fa, MN at 12:00Z on 2022-06-12Temperature 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 -99419, lifted condensation level 1275 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, International Fa, MN at 12:00Z on 2022-06-12The 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 97 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 34 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
-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

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

International Fa, MN (KINL), 00:00Z

1.8 hours after it, 179 km from the path. June 13, 2022.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, International Fa, MN at 00:00Z on 2022-06-13Temperature 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 -86290, lifted condensation level 1529 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, International Fa, MN at 00:00Z on 2022-06-13The 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 101 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 42 knots.1939587897117136Sfc1 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
-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

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The radar

The Fargo/Grand Forks radar (KMVX), 142 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 22:10 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
20:48 UTCTORNADO 13 Wsw Middle RiverMarshall, MNTHE 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 UTCHAIL 23 Ssw Middle RiverMarshall, MNWIND 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 UTCHAIL 1.754.25 N HoltMarshall, MNDEPUTY REPORTED GOLF BALL SIZED HAIL AT THE CROSS ROADS OF HIGHWAY 32 AND COUNTY ROAD 28.
20:53 UTCHAIL 1.755 Nne HoltMarshall, MNDEPUTY REPORTED LARGE GOLF BALL SIZED HAIL AT THE INTERSECTION OF HWY 59 AND CR28.
21:07 UTCTSTM WND GST 657.5 Ne HoltMarshall, MNTRAINED WEATHER SPOTTER REPORTED 65MPH WIND GUSTS 7.5 MILES NORTHEAST OF HOLT.
21:07 UTCTSTM WND GST 657 Ne HoltMarshall, MN
21:07 UTCHAIL 1.56 Se Middle RiverMarshall, MNQUARTER TO PING PONG BALL SIZED HAIL WAS ACCUMULATING ON THE GROUND.
21:07 UTCHAIL 1.56 Se Middle RiverMarshall, MNQUARTER TO PING PONG SIZED HAIL REPORTED BY TRAINED WEATHER SPOTTER. HAIL WAS ACCUMULATING ON GROUND.
21:42 UTCTORNADO 06 E GoodridgePennington, MNTORNADO 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 UTCHAIL 1.253 Se EspelieMarshall, MNHAIL UP TO HALF DOLLAR SIZED ACROSS SOUTHEAST ESPELIE TOWNSHIP. TIME ESTIMATED BASED ON RADAR.
21:52 UTCFUNNEL CLOUD15 Sw FourtownBeltrami, MNA PERSISTENT WALL CLOUD WAS OBSERVED AND FILMED FROM STATE HIGHWAY 1, WITH A BRIEF FUNNEL FORMING AND PASSING OVER THE HIGHWAY.
22:10 UTCTORNADO 09 Ene High LandingPennington, MNTORNADO 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 UTCTORNADO 16 Ene High LandingPennington, MNREPORT OF A TORNADO FROM VIDEO THROUGH BROADCAST MEDIA FROM A SPOTTER.
22:10 UTCTORNADO6 Ene High LandingPennington, MNCORRECTS 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.

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
June 122:08 PM MDTUnratedDenver, CO0.050
June 123:48 PM CDTEF1Marshall, MN2.7300
June 124:35 PM MDTEF2Teton, WY2.1360
June 1210:15 PM CDTEF2Jones, SD0.530
June 1210:28 PM CDTEF2Jones, SD3.980
June 1211:50 PM CDTUnratedLyman, SD0.210

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.