EF2 tornado in Douglas County, Minnesota

A tornado entered Douglas County from Pope County, just east of Lake Reno. It immediately demolished a garage and broke many hundreds of trees before hitting an area of homes along the east side of Maple Lake in the city of Forada. Dozens of homes had roofs torn off, garages and sheds destroyed. It threw a car several hundred feet. The tornado tore part of the roof off from the fire station. It continued beyond Forada and hit numerous farmsteads before hitting the west side of the city of Nelson, where a farm lost most outbuildings and a home lost its roof. The tornado continued moving northeast, hitting more farms, before dissipating several miles east of Carlos. Maximum winds were estimated to be 120 mph.

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.