EF2 tornado, Staples to Poplar, 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 mph

   Moderate damage. Roofs badly stripped, mobile homes overturned or badly damaged, exterior doors lost, windows broken.

3. EF2111 to 135 mphthis tornado

   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

EF2

Date

May 30, 2022

Touchdown

5:20 PM CDT (22:20 UTC)

Lifted

5:31 PM CDT (22:31 UTC)

On the ground

11 minutes

Path length

10.5 miles (16.8 km)

Path width

450 yards (411 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

0

Property damage

$1.1 million

Counties

Wadena, Todd and Cass counties

Touchdown point

46.361, -94.871

Lift-off point

46.499, -94.769

Record number

2205301620-01

35 damage points were recorded along this path by NWS DLH 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 105 mph.

• barn demolished. shed down. many trees uprooted.
• Many hundreds of trees uprooted per drone imagery.
• barn and sheds down, dozens of scattered shingles off house. Many trees broken or uprooted.
• Sporadic tree damage with a few pine trees snapped halfway up. Otherwise just large branch damage at the Poplar Cemetery.

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 potent low-pressure system impacted the region during the afternoon and evening hours of May 30th. A larger scale Derecho tracked from far southeastern South Dakota, through much of western through northcentral Minnesota. Widespread damage was reported from damaging winds, and tornadoes. Hail up to 1.5 inches was reported as well.

A strong area of low pressure across the Northern Plains lifted a warm front across the Northland on Memorial Day morning. Showers and storms moved through during the morning hours with the atmosphere recovering during the afternoon hours. A few of the storms were severe during the morning and produced small hail and tree damage. An arc of thunderstorms developed across southwestern Minnesota and adjacent areas of Nebraska, South Dakota and Iowa by the mid-afternoon hours and moved to the northeast and across the Northland for the late afternoon and evening hours. These storms were much stronger and contained very strong winds that produced widespread damage across the region. Additionally, there were a few embedded tornadoes with the storms with the strongest tornadoes producing EF-1 damage in the Deer River and Hinckley areas.

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.

This tornado was wrapped in damaging downburst winds and rain as it rapidly tracked to the north northeast from the Todd County line, across far southeast Wadena County for about 9.5 miles, to the Cass County line. It snapped numerous single pole and double X-braced power poles. it tumbled at least three center pivot irrigation systems. Numerous oak, ash, and pine trees were snapped. The Old Wadena and Bullard Campgrounds had swaths of pine trees laid down. One cabin had the roof and sidewalls torn out. Peak winds to 130 mph. Time estimated based on radar.

This tornado was wrapped in damaging downburst winds and rain as it rapidly tracked to the northeast from about 2 NW of the Staples Airport to about 2 NNE of the Staples Airport. It appears to have developed roughly half a mile east of an earlier tornado, based on divergent tree damage paths and supported by radar depictions. It snapped several poplar, ash, and spruce trees along its path. Peak winds to 90 mph. Time estimated based on radar.

The tornado crossed into Cass County from Wadena County along County Road 30 just south of 84th Street Southwest and tracked northeast for about half a mile before lifting just after crossing 84th Street Southwest. The tornado blew a center pivot irrigation system across 84th Street Southwest, snapping power poles in the process. No other damage was observed. The time of the tornado was estimated by radar and peak winds were around 100 mph.

A tornado caused damage in southwest Cass County, mainly across Poplar Township. The tornado began near the Poplar Cemetery and tracked north-northeast. Around a dozen power poles were snapped near the base along 60th St SW to the west of Highway 64 along with numerous tree damage, including several very healthy pine trees with trunks 12-18 inches in diameter snapped at the base. A small piece of farm equipment was also tossed roughly 100 yards. Significant tree damage was observed along Highway 64 around the intersection of 56 St SW, with damage continuing to the northeast into a wetland/bog-type landscape that was inaccessible. Peak winds were estimated to be 105 mph.

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

35 minutes of warning. NWS MPX issued a tornado warning for this county at 21:45 UTC, 35 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.

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.

Staples (SAZ), 6 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

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

The Minneapolis radar (KMPX), 201 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 22:22 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.