EF1 tornado in Pine County, Minnesota

Damage sustained to a fast food restaurant in Hinckley, including broken windows, a damaged rooftop HVAC unit, and evidence of metal flashing damage, is believed to be the beginning of a tornado that then tracked across Interstate 35 in a north-northwest direction, crossing the railroad tracks near 7th St NE. The majority of the damage was trees uprooted with several snapped along the way. Aerial imagery provided by the Pine County Sheriff's Department shows fairly weak but convergent tree fall between I-35 and near Highway 61 and Owl Drive between a distinct intensification where the treefall becomes much more extensive and a metal roof section was lifted off a local business. The tornado then tracked across Highway 61 and traversed north causing mainly tree damage with at least one home losing some roof shingles. The end of the tornado path is estimated due to the track moving into a much less wooded wetland area. NWS Duluth sincerely appreciates the drone imagery provided by the Pine County Sheriff's Office to aid in the assessment of this storm damage. Peak winds were estimated to be 95 mph.

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.