EF1 tornado, Battle Lake to Clitherall, Minnesota, May 12, 2022

1. EF065 to 85 mph

   Light damage. Surface peeled off some roofs, gutters and siding damaged, branches broken, shallow-rooted trees pushed over.

2. EF186 to 110 mphthis tornado

   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.

Rating

EF1

Date

May 12, 2022

Touchdown

7:31 PM CDT (00:31 UTC)

Lifted

7:34 PM CDT (00:34 UTC)

On the ground

3 minutes

Path length

3.6 miles (5.8 km)

Path width

100 yards (91 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

0

County

Otter Tail County

Touchdown point

46.260, -95.750

Lift-off point

46.308, -95.721

Record number

2205121831-01

A strong cold front and upper low traversed the area during the afternoon and evening of May 12th. During the afternoon, a larger scale Derecho moved from northeastern Nebraska, through eastern South Dakota and into portions of far southeastern North Dakota and west-central Minnesota. Widespread strong to severe thunderstorms were observed, with large hail, tornadoes, and damaging wind gusts all being reported during this time.

This tornado began about 2 miles west southwest of Battle Lake, MN and tracked to the north until 7:34 pm where it lifted 2 miles north northeast of Battle Lake, MN. One single-wide trailer was flipped. Numerous spruce, poplar, and ash trees were snapped or uprooted. Metal roofing was blown off of storage near the airport. Peak winds were estimated at 100 mph, giving this tornado an EF1 rating, with a path length of 3.5 miles. A couple of power poles were also damaged along the path.

This tornado began about 3 miles north northeast of Clitherall, MN as a waterspout on West Mason Lake and lasted for about a minute. The area showed several large 6-10 inch diameter tree branches broken along the north shore. Peak winds were estimated at 85 mph, giving this tornado an EF0 rating, with a path length of 1 mile.

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

10 minutes of warning. NWS FGF issued a tornado warning for this county at 00:21 UTC, 10 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 00:37 UTC.

The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 22:37 UTC and running to 02:15 UTC.

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 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 19:59 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 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.

Fergus Falls (FFM), 32 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

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

The Fargo/Grand Forks radar (KMVX), 184 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 00:33 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.

Local storm reports within 60 km of the path, in the three hours either side.

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

The live radar over the trackEvery 2022 tornado in MinnesotaEvery tornado in Minnesota since 1950Warnings in force in Minnesota nowThe forecast where you are

31 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

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.

NOAA Storm Prediction Center tornado database, 1950-2025, the official record kept by NOAA's Storm Prediction Center.