Tornadoes · United States · Minnesota · 2022

EF1 tornado, Eagle Bend to Staples, Minnesota, May 30, 2022

Name: EF1 tornado, Eagle Bend to Staples, Minnesota, May 30, 2022
Start: 2022-05-30T22:00:00.000Z
End: 2022-05-30T22:17:00.000Z
Location: Eagle Bend to Staples, Minnesota

From Eagle Bend to Staples, this EF1 tornado ran 15.0 miles across Todd County on May 30, 2022, touching down at 5:00 PM CDT and reaching 800 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: May 30, 2022
Touchdown: 5:00 PM CDT (22:00 UTC)
Lifted: 5:17 PM CDT (22:17 UTC)
On the ground: 17 minutes
Path length: 15.0 miles (24.2 km)
Path width: 800 yards (732 m)
Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
County: Todd County
Touchdown point: 46.132, -95.046
Lift-off point: 46.316, -94.878
Record number: 2205301600-01

The damage survey

36 damage points were recorded along this path by NWS MPX, in the Damage Assessment Toolkit the survey teams carry. The strongest indicator was rated EF1. The highest wind the damage implies is 105 mph.

Uncertain if this was a continuation of the Forada tornado or if it had dissipated by this point.
A few trees uprooted, antenna tower knocked over
barn demolished. shed down. many trees uprooted.
Many hundreds of trees uprooted per drone imagery.

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

What the Weather Service recorded

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.

This tornado tore through the eastern side of Eagle Bend. It knocked down or snapped many trees, partially removed roofs from several houses, peeled tin off the roof of multiple sheds and buildings, and took the top off three massive and filled grain bins in Eagle Bend. Multiple farmsteads were hit, destroying barns, machine sheds, and other outbuildings. It ended about 5 miles west-southwest of Staples where the scattered tree damage pattern could no longer be determined to be of tornadic origin. Determination of the specific path was assisted by Todd County Emergency Management, which provided drone imagery to the NWS. Maximum winds were estimated to be 100 mph.

A tornado developed in far northern Todd County and hit two farmsteads before exiting into Wadena County (see corresponding entry from NWS Grand Forks). At the first farmstead, a garage door was blown in and part of the garage roof came off. Maximum winds for the Todd County portion were estimated to be 90 mph.

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

The warnings

15 minutes of warning. NWS MPX issued a tornado warning for this county at 21:45 UTC, 15 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 22:30 UTC.

The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 19:37 UTC and running to 00:27 UTC.

Issued (UTC)	Expired	Product	Office
05:05 UTC	10:25 UTC	Severe Thunderstorm Watch	MPX
07:39 UTC	08:15 UTC	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MPX
09:37 UTC	10:15 UTC	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MPX
19:37 UTC	00:27 UTC	Tornado Watch	MPX
21:45 UTC	22:30 UTC	Tornado Warning	MPX
22:17 UTC	22:41 UTC	Tornado Warning	MPX

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 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 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.

Minneapolis, MN (KMPX), 12:00Z

10.0 hours before the tornado, 186 km from the path. May 30, 2022.

Skew-T log-p

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.

Hodograph

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: -85644 J/kg
Surface CAPE: 0 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 1332 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 64 kt
0-1 km bulk shear: 13 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: -103 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: -23 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 0.1
0-3 km lapse rate: 4.0 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

Minneapolis, MN (KMPX), 00:00Z

2.0 hours after it, 186 km from the path. May 31, 2022.

Skew-T log-p

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.

Hodograph

Mixed-layer CAPE: 1278 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -32 J/kg
Surface CAPE: 1552 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 1827 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 79 kt
0-1 km bulk shear: 36 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 229 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 334 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.5
Supercell composite: 10.3
0-3 km lapse rate: 8.0 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The surface observations

Staples (SAZ), 21 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

Time (UTC)	Temp (°F)	Dew point (°F)	Wind	Gust (kt)	Pressure (mb)	Weather
20:15 UTC	75.2	62.6	140° 6 kt		995.9
20:35 UTC	71.6	62.6	160° 10 kt	18	997	-TSRA
20:55 UTC	71.6	64.4	110° 6 kt		994.2	-RA
21:15 UTC	73.4	64.4	120° 7 kt		993.2
21:35 UTC	71.6	64.4	90° 10 kt	14	991.5	VCTS
21:55 UTC	73.4	64.4	100° 10 kt		991.5	VCTS
22:15 UTC	73.4	66.2	90° 12 kt	18	989.8	-TSRA
22:35 UTC	60.8	57.2	200° 21 kt	41	994.9	+TSRA
22:55 UTC	60.8	57.2	0° 0 kt		993.2	TSRA
23:15 UTC	60.8	59	110° 4 kt		994.2	VCTSRA
23:35 UTC	60.8	60.8	140° 6 kt		994.2	-VCTSRA
23:55 UTC	60.8	60.8	100° 3 kt		993.2	-RA

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

The radar

The Minneapolis radar (KMPX), 188 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 21:59 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
21:15 UTC	HAIL 1.5	6 Ssw Garfield	Douglas, MN	TIME ESTIMATED BY RADAR.
21:15 UTC	HAIL 1.75	Lowry	Pope, MN	GOLF BALL SIZED HAIL REPORTED. RELAYED VIA LAW ENFORCEMENT.
21:20 UTC	HAIL 2	6 Ssw Garfield	Douglas, MN	TIME ESTIMATED BY RADAR.
21:27 UTC	TSTM WND DMG	Hubbard	Hubbard, MN	LARGE TREES BLOWN DOWN. TIME ESTIMATED BASED ON RADAR.
21:27 UTC	TSTM WND GST 75	Ashby	Grant, MN	LARGE BRANCHES BROKEN DOWN AND TREES UPROOTED NEAR DOWNTOWN ASHBY. WIND GUSTS ESTIMATED FROM 70 TO 80 MPH.
21:28 UTC	TSTM WND DMG	Ashby	Grant, MN	LARGE BRANCHES BROKEN DOWN AND TREES UPROOTED NEAR DOWNTOWN ASHBY.
21:34 UTC	TORNADO 1	1 Wsw Urbank	Otter Tail, MN	THE TORNADO WAS WRAPPED IN DAMAGING DOWNBURST WIND AND RAIN AS IT TRACKED RAPIDLY TO THE NNE FOR ROUHGHLY 5 MILES, ENDING ABOUT 4 N URBANK BY 438 PM CDT. NUMEROUS POPLAR, ASH, AND SPRUCE TREES WERE SNAPPED OR UPROOTED AL
21:34 UTC	TORNADO	1.2 Sw Urbank	Otter Tail, MN	PEAK WINDS ESTIMATED TO BE 90 MPH. WITH PATH LENGTH OF 5 MILES AND A PATH WIDTH OF 200 YARDS. NUMEROUS POPLAR, ASH, AND SPRUCE TREES WERE SNAPPED OR UPROOTED ALONG THE PATH. AT LEAST ONE HOUSE LOST NUMEROUS SHINGLES, WHI
21:35 UTC	TORNADO	1 S Forada	Douglas, MN	CONFIRMED TORNADO BY LAW ENFORCEMENT, DAMAGED A HOME.
21:37 UTC	TSTM WND DMG	3 W Urbank	Otter Tail, MN	CORRECTS PREVIOUS TSTM WND DMG REPORT FROM 3 W URBANK. LARGE TREES DOWN NEAR INSPIRATION PEAK.
21:37 UTC	TSTM WND DMG	3 W Urbank	Otter Tail, MN	LARGE TREES DOWN NEAR INSPIRATION PEAK.
21:40 UTC	TSTM WND DMG	2 S Battle Lake	Otter Tail, MN	LARGE TREES UPROOTED.
21:48 UTC	TSTM WND DMG	5 E Henning	Otter Tail, MN	OCCASIONAL POPLAR AND SPRUCE TREES WERE SNAPPED OR UPROOTED ALONG A THREE MILE STRETCH OF HWY 210 THROUGH WESTERN INMAN TOWNSHIP. THE LAST TWO SECTIONS OF A NORTH-SOUTH ORIENTED CENTER PIVOT IRRIGATION SYSTEM WERE TUMBLE
21:49 UTC	TSTM WND GST 65	New York Mills	Otter Tail, MN	PEAK WIND MEASURED AT A PERSONAL WEATHER STATION.
21:58 UTC	TORNADO 1	2 Se Perham	Otter Tail, MN	THE TORNADO WAS WRAPPED IN DAMAGING DOWNBURST WINDS AND RAIN AS IT RAPIDLY TRACKED TO THE NNE FOR ROUGHLY 5 MILES, INTO AND ACROSS BIG PINE LAKE, BY 504 PM CDT. NUMEROUS POPLAR, ASH, SPRUCE, AND PINE TREES WERE SNAPPED O
21:59 UTC	TORNADO	2 Se Perham	Otter Tail, MN	PEAK WINDS ESTIMATED TO BE 100 MPH, WITH A PATH LENGTH OF 5 MILES AND PATH WIDTH OF 300 YARDS. NUMEROUS POPLAR, ASH, SPRUCE, AND PINE TREES WERE SNAPPED ACROSS THE EASTERN EDGE OF PERHAM AND ALONG THE WESTERN AND NORTHER
22:00 UTC	TORNADO	2 Ssw Eagle Bend	Todd, MN	TORNADO RATED EF1 WITH ESTIMATED MAXIMUM WINDS OF 95 MPH. PATH LENGTH 15.4 MILES WITH A MAXIMUM WIDTH OF 300 YARDS. THE TORNADO TORE THROUGH THE EASTERN SIDE OF EAGLE BEND. IT KNOCKED DOWN OR SNAPPED MANY TREES, PARTIALL
22:03 UTC	TSTM WND DMG	Eagle Bend	Todd, MN	DELAYED REPORT - DAMAGE REPORTED IN EAGLE BEND MN, LIKELY TORNADIC.
22:08 UTC	TSTM WND DMG	2 W Hillview	Otter Tail, MN	A FEW POPLAR TREES WERE BLOWN OVER.
22:09 UTC	TSTM WND DMG	6 Nne Wadena	Wadena, MN	A FEW POPLAR TREES SNAPPED THROUGH CENTRAL LEAF RIVER TOWNSHIP. TIME ESTIMATED BASED ON RADAR.
22:18 UTC	TSTM WND DMG	3 Wsw Menahga	Becker, MN	SEVERAL POPLAR AND ASH TREES SNAPPED ACROSS WESTERN BLUEBERRY TOWNSHIP. TIME ESTIMATED BASED ON RADAR.
22:20 UTC	HAIL 1.5	Verndale	Wadena, MN
22:21 UTC	TSTM WND GST 70	3 W Staples Airport	Wadena, MN	QUARTER SIZED HAIL AND WIND GUSTS AT 60 TO 70 MPH.
22:21 UTC	TORNADO 2	3 Wsw Staples Airport	Wadena, MN	THE TORNADO WAS WRAPPED IN DOWNBURST WINDS AND RAIN AS IT RAPIDLY TRACKED NNE FROM TODD COUNTY FOR ROUGHLY 9.4 MILES, THEN CROSSED INTO CASS COUNTY ABOUT 5.8 MILES SSE OF OYLEN BY 530 PM CDT. NUMEROUS WOODEN SINGLE AND D
22:21 UTC	TORNADO	3 W Staples Airport	Wadena, MN	THIS TORNADO CROSSED FROM TODD COUNTY AND PROCEEDED IN A NORTH-NORTHEAST DIRECTION UNTIL IT CROSSED INTO CASS COUNTY. NUMEROUS WOODEN POWER POLES WERE SNAPPED ALONG THE TORNADO PATH, INCLUDING SINGLE POLES AND A COUPLE O
22:25 UTC	HAIL 1	Nne Aldrich	Wadena, MN
22:27 UTC	TORNADO 1	2 Nw Staples Airport	Wadena, MN	THE TORNADO WAS WRAPPED IN DOWNBURST WIND AND RAIN AS IT RAPIDLY TRACKED TO THE NE FOR ABOUT 2.5 MILE TO AROUND 2 NNE OF STAPLES AIRPORT BY 530 PM CDT. IT APPEARED TO HAVE DEVELOPED ROUGHLY A HALF MILE EAST OF AN EARLIER
22:28 UTC	TSTM WND DMG	Hubbard	Hubbard, MN	LARGE TREES BLOWN DOWN. TIME ESTIMATED BASED ON RADAR.
22:30 UTC	HAIL 1.5	Verndale	Wadena, MN
22:37 UTC	TORNADO	2 Ssw Poplar	Cass, MN	BEGINNING OF EF-1 TORNADO WITH MAX WINDS OF 105 MPH.
22:40 UTC	TSTM WND DMG	3 Wnw Pillager	Cass, MN	A FEW TREES DOWNED ACROSS MN 210. TIME ESTIMATED FROM RADAR.
22:45 UTC	TORNADO	2 Nne Poplar	Cass, MN	APPROXIMATE END OF EF 1 TORNADO. PATH LENGTH 4.3 MILES. PATH WIDTH ESTIMATED 500 YARDS. MAX WINDS ESTIMATED 105 MPH.
22:50 UTC	TSTM WND DMG	3 W Urbank	Otter Tail, MN	LARGE TREES DOWN NEAR INSPIRATION PEAK.
22:56 UTC	TSTM WND DMG	1 Ne Lake Shore	Cass, MN	MANY TREES DOWN OVER POWER LINES AND SOME ON BUILDINGS. PHOTO SHOWS ONE TREE WITH AN ESTIMATED DIAMETER OF 12 TO 14 INCHES. REPORT FROM SOCIAL MEDIA. TIME ESTIMATED BY RADAR.
22:58 UTC	TSTM WND DMG	2 Sw Backus	Cass, MN	EXTENSIVE DAMAGE TO SEVERAL FARMS AND HOMES. TIME ESTIMATED FROM RADAR.
22:58 UTC	TSTM WND DMG	3 Sse Pequot Lakes	Crow Wing, MN	CORRECTS DATE OF PREVIOUS TSTM WND DMG REPORT FROM 3 SSE PEQUOT LAKES. PHOTO VIA SOCIAL MEDIA. SEVERAL TREES DOWN. TREE DEBRIS SCATTERED OVER ROAD. POWER OUT. TIME ESTIMATED FROM RADAR.
23:00 UTC	TSTM WND DMG	1 E Pequot Lakes	Crow Wing, MN	CLUSTER OF TREES DOWN ON A POWERLINE ON COUNTY HWY 11.
23:00 UTC	TSTM WND DMG	Pine River	Cass, MN	TREES REPORT DOWN IN THE PINE RIVER AREA. POWER IS ALSO OUT. REPORT FROM SOCIAL MEDIA.
23:02 UTC	TSTM WND DMG	1 Wnw Breezy Point	Crow Wing, MN	TREES DOWN AND POWER OUT.
23:02 UTC	TSTM WND DMG	4 Sse Nisswa	Crow Wing, MN	TREE DOWN ON VEHICLE. REPORT RELAYED BY SOCIAL MEDIA VIA A LAW ENFORCEMENT SCANNER.

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

This ground now

The live radar over the track Every 2022 tornado in Minnesota Every tornado in Minnesota since 1950 Warnings in force in Minnesota now The forecast where you are

The other tornadoes of May 30, 2022

36 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Damage
May 30	1:20 AM CDT	EF1	Cedar, NE	3.0	100
May 30	1:51 AM CDT	EF1	Minnehaha, SD	0.5	50
May 30	2:05 AM CDT	EF1	Minnehaha, SD	0.5	50
May 30	2:17 AM CDT	EF1	Lyon, IA	1.9	100
May 30	2:21 AM CDT	EF0	Lyon, IA	0.5	60
May 30	2:33 AM CDT	EF0	Nobles, MN	0.9	50
May 30	12:29 PM CDT	Unrated	Bon Homme, SD	5.5	50
May 30	1:55 PM CDT	Unrated	McCook, SD	0.8	25
May 30	2:15 PM CDT	Unrated	Brookings, SD	1.7	50
May 30	2:23 PM CDT	EF1	Brookings, SD	0.8	50
May 30	2:30 PM CDT	EF0	Hamlin, SD	0.7	10
May 30	2:41 PM CDT	EF2	Deuel, SD	12.4	150
May 30	2:46 PM CDT	EF3	Deuel, SD	13.3	100
May 30	2:50 PM CDT	EF1	Deuel, SD	0.4	20
May 30	3:05 PM CDT	EF1	Grant, SD	10.7	40
May 30	3:10 PM CDT	EF1	Grant, SD	4.5	20
May 30	3:15 PM CDT	Unrated	Rock, MN	0.7	20
May 30	3:25 PM CDT	Unrated	Pipestone, MN	0.4	20
May 30	3:36 PM CDT	EF1	Big Stone, MN	2.4	30
May 30	3:39 PM CDT	EF1	Swift, MN	1.8	100
May 30	3:40 PM CDT	EF1	Swift, MN	18.3	350
May 30	3:49 PM CDT	EF1	Swift, MN	7.2	100
May 30	4:04 PM CDT	EF1	Pope, MN	5.4	100
May 30	4:13 PM CDT	EF1	Pope, MN	3.2	200
May 30	4:14 PM CDT	EF2	Grant, MN	6.8	350	$2.0 million
May 30	4:15 PM CDT	EF2	Grant, MN	11.0	400	$1.0 million
May 30	4:27 PM CDT	EF2	Pope, MN	19.6	800
May 30	4:34 PM CDT	EF1	Otter Tail, MN	4.5	200	$50,000
May 30	4:58 PM CDT	EF1	Otter Tail, MN	5.4	300	$150,000
May 30	5:20 PM CDT	EF2	Wadena, MN	10.5	450	$1.1 million
May 30	5:27 PM CDT	EF1	Wadena, MN	2.5	150	$50,000
May 30	5:37 PM CDT	EF1	Cass, MN	4.3	500
May 30	6:12 PM CDT	EF1	McLeod, MN	18.5	400
May 30	6:44 PM CDT	EF0	Itasca, MN	1.0	40
May 30	6:46 PM CDT	EF1	Itasca, MN	2.5	150
May 30	7:50 PM CDT	EF1	Pine, MN	3.3	300

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.