EF1 tornado, Pillager to Ironton, Minnesota, June 16, 2025

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

June 16, 2025

Touchdown

4:21 PM CDT (21:21 UTC)

Lifted

4:43 PM CDT (21:43 UTC)

On the ground

22 minutes

Path length

11.5 miles (18.4 km)

Path width

400 yards (366 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

0

Counties

Crow Wing and Cass counties

Touchdown point

46.430, -94.544

Lift-off point

46.448, -94.313

Record number

2506161521-01

24 damage points were recorded along this path by NWS DLH, in the Damage Assessment Toolkit the survey teams carry. The strongest indicator was rated EF1. The highest wind the damage implies is 104 mph.

• Numerous trees snapped several feet up their trunks and uprooted along Highway 127. Trees laying in several directions.
• Numerous trees uprooted and snapped
• Numerous trees snapped and uprooted towards multiple directions.
• Numerous trees uprooted and snapped. Minimal visible damage to houses and structures in the area.

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

An area of low pressure moved from eastern South Dakota to Lake Superior on the 16th. As the low tracked to the northeast, it lifted a warm front into central Minnesota. To the south of the warm front and to the east of a cold front, a very warm and moist unstable airmass was in place. Morning thunderstorms across the region left cloud cover in place over much of the Northland, but areas of clearing were able to develop in the vicinity of the low across the central part of the state. This heating led to rapid destabilization and the development of low-topped supercells in central Minnesota. Low level winds were strong and somewhat veered leading to a good environment for tornadoes early in a storm's lifecycle. As a broken line of storms moved in to the Brainerd Lakes area, one storm produced a large EF-1 tornado that began near Casino and moved over Gull Lake before dissipating shortly after moving back onto land near Minnesota Highway 371 just north of Brainerd. This tornado was well documented by chasers in the area. The storm cycled and produced another EF-1 tornado that touched down to the west of Merrifield and moved to the east through the northern part of town and into an inaccessible area along the Mississippi River before ended in Cuyuna State Park along the north shore of Huntington Mine Lake. Extensive tree damage was observed with both tornadoes with many being snapped some ten to 20 feet above the ground. Other areas of tree damage were reported as the line of storms progressed to the east, but no additional tornadoes were found. Some minor flash flooding was reported across the Iron Range as well with this activity.

First of two tornadoes from a severe thunderstorm that crossed through Cass and Crow Wing Counties. The tornado began just north of Casino, Minnesota, and moved northeasterly for about 3.75 miles before taking an easterly turn near the end of Home Brook Lane on the south end of Hardy Lake. It then traveled east-southeast for about 7 miles and crossed into Crow Wing County while over Gull Lake. The tornado continued into Crow Wing County for about three-quarters of a mile moving back on shore then dissipating after crossing Sea Gull Road NW at 1643 CDT. Damage along the path was mainly limited to hardwood and softwood trees that were snapped about 10 to 20 feet up (DI 27/28, DOD 4). Near the beginning of the tornado, it moved across a homestead causing roof damage to the attached garage of a home and pushed the entire unanchored garage structure about one foot (DI 1, DOD 4).

First of two tornadoes from a severe thunderstorm that crossed through Cass and Crow Wing Counties. The tornado began just north of Casino, Minnesota, and crossed into Crow Wing County about 5.25 miles southwest of Lake Hubert while over Gull Lake. The tornado continued into Crow Wing County for about three-quarters of a mile moving back on shore then dissipating after crossing Sea Gull Road NW at 1643 CDT. Damage along the path was mainly limited to hardwood and softwood trees that were snapped about 10 to 20 feet up (DI 27/28, DOD 4).

This is the second of two tornadoes that were observed and produced damage from a severe thunderstorm. The tornado developed along Moody Lane, just east of Crimson Lane, and moved northeast for about 1.5 miles before turning east-southeast near the south end of Mollie Lake. The tornado then tracked east-southeast for about 3.8 miles before turning east-northeast just after crossing Rebel Road. The tornado then continued across the Mississippi River and into Cuyuna Lakes State Park for about 5.6 miles before dissipating along the north shore of Huntington Mine Lake. Damage along the path of this tornado was almost entirely tree damage with hardwood and softwood trees snapped about 10 to 20 feet above the ground (DI 27/28, DOD 4). Extensive tree damage was observed along Sugar Bush Trail North west of Merrifield with the road completely blocked by fallen trees for a time. The maximum width of the tornado was 900 yards near the south end of Mollie Lake.

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

0 minutes of warning. NWS DLH issued a tornado warning for this county at 21:21 UTC, 0 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 21:45 UTC.

The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 19:54 UTC and running to 00:52 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 Enhanced Risk, with a 0.05 chance of a tornado within 25 miles. The outlook in force was issued at 19:54 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.

The Duluth radar (KDLH), 175 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 21:20 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.

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 2025 tornado in MinnesotaEvery tornado in Minnesota since 1950Warnings in force in Minnesota nowThe forecast where you are

8 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.