Thunderstorm Wind — Lac Qui Parle, Minnesota

2022-06-20 · near Madison Arpt, Lac Qui Parle, Minnesota

Wider weather episode

A damaging wind event unfolded across west-central Minnesota during the evening of June 20 and into the overnight hours of June 21. Temperatures in the mid to upper 90s along with dew points in the mid to upper 60s created ample instability for thunderstorms to develop ahead of a cold front, once the cap weakened during the evening. Despite fairly muggy dewpoints, the hot surface temperatures created inverted-V soundings that were primed for damaging wind potential. Thunderstorms came in three waves during the evening, as marginal shear values prohibited any long-lived or well-organized thunderstorms across the area. Numerous wind gusts of 60-70 kts were measured across west-central Minnesota, along with widespread tree damage. One fatality occurred when a tree fell on a camper in Douglas County.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (44.9800, -96.1800)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1031180. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.