EF1 tornado, Appleton to Danvers, Minnesota, May 30, 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 30, 2022

Touchdown

3:49 PM CDT (20:49 UTC)

Lifted

3:56 PM CDT (20:56 UTC)

On the ground

7 minutes

Path length

7.2 miles (11.5 km)

Path width

100 yards (91 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

0

County

Swift County

Touchdown point

45.299, -95.921

Lift-off point

45.403, -95.907

Record number

2205301449-01

33 damage points were recorded along this path by NWS ABR and NWS MPX, in the Damage Assessment Toolkit the survey teams carry. The strongest indicator was rated EF1. The highest wind the damage implies is 100 mph.

• Convergent uprooted tree damage. Several road signs twisted. Very little damage to church building.
• Irrigation systems overturned. Look up new DI.
• Irrigation system overturned.
• Debris carried well to the northeast (maybe half mile).

Survey points are preliminary and are the raw material the published rating was built from. Source: NWS Damage Assessment Toolkit.

A strong synoptic cyclone swinging into the Northern Plains set the stage for a late Spring severe weather outbreak on May 30th. Discrete and semi-discrete supercells developed during the afternoon ahead of an arcing cold front and a nearby surface low. These storms quickly traveled northeast while gradually growing upscale into bowing line segments as storms merged together and new cells formed. During this time, hail and tornadoes occurred; the strongest being an EF2 through Forada, MN. The bowing line segments became dominant and a wind event unfolded.||Strong and broad synoptic lift, little capping, and questionable mid-level shear likely allowed for upscale growth. This caused storm interactions and competing updrafts which may have limited mesocyclone longevity and strength. While property was damaged, no lives were lost on the last day of a holiday weekend when many people were outdoors camping or doing other recreational activities.

A tornado developed about 3 miles north-northwest of Milan in Chippewa County and then moved into Swift County where it uprooted a number of trees and significantly damaged farm outbuildings. Maximum winds for the Swift County portion were estimated at 90 mph.

This tornado developed about 5 miles southwest of Danvers and tracked north until an outflow boundary caught up with it, then the tornado tracked northeast to 7 miles northwest of Clontarf. It originated in Swift County, then moved through the southeast corner of Stevens County, then into Pope County, where it dissipated. Several wooden poles with electrical transmission lines were snapped. Irrigation systems were overturned, trees were damaged, and some structural damage to homes and farm outbuildings also resulted. Maximum winds were estimated at 100 mph.

The tornado hit several farms. It broke some windows, knocked down or broke dozens of trees, tore tin off several sheds, and caused major damage to barns. Maximum winds were estimated at 90 mph.

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

20 minutes of warning. NWS MPX issued a tornado warning for this county at 20:29 UTC, 20 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 21:00 UTC.

The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 19:37 UTC and running to 22:56 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 0.15 chance of a tornado within 25 miles, in the hatched area where significant tornadoes were expected. 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 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.

Appleton Municip (AQP), 15 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

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

The Minneapolis radar (KMPX), 193 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 20:48 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

36 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.