Tornadoes · United States · Minnesota · 2025
Unrated tornado, Norcross, Minnesota, August 21, 2025
This Unrated tornado ran 0.3 miles across Grant County on August 21, 2025, touching down at 6:18 PM CDT and reaching 30 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 mph
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.
Unratedthis tornado
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
- Unrated
- Date
- August 21, 2025
- Touchdown
- 6:18 PM CDT (23:18 UTC)
- Lifted
- 6:23 PM CDT (23:23 UTC)
- On the ground
- 5 minutes
- Path length
- 0.3 miles (0.4 km)
- Path width
- 30 yards (27 m)
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- County
- Grant County
- Touchdown point
- 45.870, -96.240
- Lift-off point
- 45.870, -96.240
- Record number
- 2508211718-02
What the Weather Service recorded
A severe thunderstorm produced quarter size hail in Pennington County in northwest MN during the evening. A cluster of storms moving into west central Minnesota also produced several brief weak landspout type tornadoes in Grant County, but produced no reported damage.
Relayed from emergency manager. Brief landspout type tornado west of Norcross. No damage reported.
Relayed from emergency manager. Brief landspout type tornado northwest of Norcross. No damage reported.
From NOAA NCEI's Storm Events Database, the narrative the local forecast office wrote for Storm Data.
What forecasters said that day
The local office's own words before the tornado touched down, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.
NWS Grand Forks, ND wrote its last area forecast discussion before the tornado touched down at Aug 21, 2:35 PM CDT, 3 hours 43 minutes earlier. Its key messages:
- There is a 2 of 5 risk for severe thunderstorms this afternoon and evening across portions of the area. Hazards could include damaging wind gusts to 75 mph, large hail up to the size of golf balls, and perhaps an isolated tornado.
Area forecast discussion, Aug 21, 2:35 PM CDT, 3 hours 43 minutes before
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Grand Forks ND 235 PM CDT Thu Aug 21 2025 .KEY MESSAGES... - There is a 2 of 5 risk for severe thunderstorms this afternoon and evening across portions of the area. Hazards could include damaging wind gusts to 75 mph, large hail up to the size of golf balls, and perhaps an isolated tornado. && .DISCUSSION... Issued at 235 PM CDT Thu Aug 21 2025 ...Synopsis... Ridging continues to retreat southwest this afternoon, with H5 troughing extending southward from an upper low, situated over Saskatchewan and Manitoba. Scattered showers and thunderstorms are expected to continue through the afternoon and early evening, with severe thunderstorms possible. A cold front traverses the area tonight into Friday morning, with much cooler and drier weather expected as we head into Friday afternoon and into the weekend. Look for highs in the 70s on Friday, with breezy west winds, then in the 60s for Saturday and Sunday with breezy northwest to north winds. Lows could fall into the low 40s Sunday night, with cooler spots possibly seeing upper 30s. Slightly warmer temperatures return on Tuesday as highs climb into the lower to middle 70s. ...Severe Thunderstorms this Afternoon and Evening... There is a conditional chance for scattered severe thunderstorms this afternoon and evening. Dew points have climbed into the upper 60s to near 70 degrees following a prefrontal trough. West of this feature, instability is expected to climb upwards of 3500 J/Kg, along with deep layer shear ranging from 30-40 knots. Low level flow remains weak; however, near storm influences could allow low level shear to be locally supportive of hybrid supercells and clusters. Forcing is somewhat weak due to the lack of H5/H7 shortwave support and most of the initiation is likely to occur just ahead of the cold front, where the steepest theta-e gradients exist. Soundings continue to support upscale growth, with line segments potentially leading to damaging wind gusts as the afternoon progresses. DCAPE values are in the range of 1100 to 1300 J/Kg, along with PW values ranging from 1.3 to 1.7 inches. This should allow for moderate precip loading into any updraft that is able to initiate. Wind gusts of 75 mph are possible with today's strongest storms, along with hail up to the size of golf balls. Tornado risk continues to be present but overall generally low. Storm scale influences will play the biggest role for tornado risk as hybrid clusters could show more supercell characteristics in the presence of increased low level shear from nearby outflow boundaries. && .AVIATION /18Z TAFS THROUGH 18Z FRIDAY/... Issued at 1239 PM CDT Thu Aug 21 2025 MVFR conditions prevail where showers and thunderstorms are occurring this afternoon, with VFR conditions elsewhere. A cold front continues to work to the southeast this afternoon, bringing additional thunderstorm activity to most of the TAF sites. A few storms could become severe, with wind gusts and large hail being the primary risk. An isolated tornado cannot be ruled out. Winds shift to the west and northwest this evening following the frontal passage. && .FGF WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... ND...None. MN...None. && DISCUSSION...Lynch AVIATION...Lynch
Hazardous weather outlook, Aug 21, 5:28 PM CDT, 50 minutes before
Hazardous Weather Outlook National Weather Service Grand Forks ND 528 PM CDT Thu Aug 21 2025 MNZ004-007-NDZ007-008-016-026>030-038-049-052-054-222230- Kittson-West Marshall-Cavalier-Pembina-Eastern Walsh-Nelson- Grand Forks-Griggs-Steele-Traill-Barnes-Ransom-Sargent- Western Walsh- 528 PM CDT Thu Aug 21 2025 This hazardous weather outlook is for portions of eastern North Dakota and northwest Minnesota. .DAY ONE...Tonight There is a level 1 out of 5 risk for severe thunderstorms this afternoon and evening for northeast North Dakota and northwest Minnesota and late afternoon and evening southeast North Dakota and west central Minnesota. The main hazards will be potential for wind gusts to 75 mph and hail to golf ball size. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...Friday through Wednesday The probability for widespread hazardous weather is low. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... Spotter activation may be required today. NDZ006-014-015-024-222230- Towner-Benson-Ramsey-Eddy- 528 PM CDT Thu Aug 21 2025 This hazardous weather outlook is for portions of eastern North Dakota. .DAY ONE...Tonight The probability for widespread hazardous weather is low. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...Friday through Wednesday The probability for widespread hazardous weather is low. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... Spotter activation is not anticipated today. MNZ001>003-005-006-008-009-013>017-022>024-027>032-040-NDZ039-053- 222230- West Polk-Norman-Clay-Roseau-Lake Of The Woods-East Marshall- North Beltrami-Pennington-Red Lake-East Polk-North Clearwater- South Beltrami-Mahnomen-South Clearwater-Hubbard-West Becker- East Becker-Wilkin-West Otter Tail-East Otter Tail-Wadena-Grant- Cass-Richland- 528 PM CDT Thu Aug 21 2025 This hazardous weather outlook is for portions of eastern North Dakota, west central and northwest Minnesota. .DAY ONE...Tonight There is a level 2 out of 5 risk for severe thunderstorms this afternoon and evening for southeast North Dakota and northwest Minnesota and late afternoon and evening southeast North Dakota and west central Minnesota. The main hazards will be potential for wind gusts to 75 mph and hail to golf ball size. There is a low a low probability for isolated tornadoes. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...Friday through Wednesday The probability for widespread hazardous weather is low. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... Spotter activation may be required today.
In the hours before
Local storm report, Aug 21, 5:46 PM CDT, 32 minutes before
Preliminary Local Storm Report
National Weather Service Grand Forks ND
546 PM CDT Thu Aug 21 2025
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0529 PM Tornado 5 WSW Lamars 45.94N 96.78W
08/21/2025 Richland ND Trained Spotter
Observed tornado riding the North
Dakota/South Dakota state line.
&&Local storm report, Aug 21, 5:52 PM CDT, 26 minutes before
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</html>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.
Aberdeen, SD (KABR), 12:00Z
11.3 hours before the tornado, 200 km from the path. August 21, 2025.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 1155 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -351 J/kg
- Surface CAPE
- 0 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 1022 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 25 kt
- 0-1 km bulk shear
- 16 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 194 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 194 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 1.3
- 0-3 km lapse rate
- 3.1 K/km
Aberdeen, SD (KABR), 00:00Z
0.7 hours after it, 200 km from the path. August 22, 2025.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 2017 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -96 J/kg
- Surface CAPE
- 6217 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 1254 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 47 kt
- 0-1 km bulk shear
- 7 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- -42 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 49 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- -0.3
- Supercell composite
- -6.1
- 0-3 km lapse rate
- 6.7 K/km
The surface observations
Elbow Lake (Y63), 23 km from the path, in the two hours either side.
| Time (UTC) | Temp (°F) | Dew point (°F) | Wind | Gust (kt) | Pressure (mb) | Weather |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 00:00 UTC |
From the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of airport observations.
The radar
The Aberdeen radar (KABR), 175 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 23:20 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.
This ground now
The live radar over the trackEvery 2025 tornado in MinnesotaEvery tornado in Minnesota since 1950Warnings in force in Minnesota nowThe forecast where you are
The other tornadoes of August 21, 2025
2 more were confirmed in the United States that day.
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.