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EF1 tornado in Wadena County, Minnesota

Tornado May 30, 2022 · Wadena County, Minnesota

EF1

Rating

13.0 mi

Whole path

150 yd

Path width

$1.2M

Damage as recorded

NOAA records this tornado county by county. Its path ran through Todd County → Wadena County → Wadena County → Cass County; the totals above are for the whole tornado.

EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 150 yards (0.09 mi) — zoom in and the swath grows to true scale. Other tornadoes recorded nearby that day are shown faint.

What EF1 means. On the Enhanced Fujita scale, EF1 is moderate damage: roofs badly stripped, mobile homes pushed off foundations or overturned, windows broken, consistent with estimated gusts of 86–110 mph. The rating comes from a survey of the worst damage after the storm, not from a wind measurement, so it says as much about what the tornado hit as about how strong it was.

What the National Weather Service wrote

This tornado was wrapped in damaging downburst winds and rain as it rapidly tracked to the northeast from about 2 NW of the Staples Airport to about 2 NNE of the Staples Airport. It appears to have developed roughly half a mile east of an earlier tornado, based on divergent tree damage paths and supported by radar depictions. It snapped several poplar, ash, and spruce trees along its path. Peak winds to 90 mph. Time estimated based on radar.

The wider storm

A potent low-pressure system impacted the region during the afternoon and evening hours of May 30th. A larger scale Derecho tracked from far southeastern South Dakota, through much of western through northcentral Minnesota. Widespread damage was reported from damaging winds, and tornadoes. Hail up to 1.5 inches was reported as well.

Began near Staples (46.3965, -94.8277).

Other tornadoes from the same storm system

4 more tornadoes the National Weather Service filed under this storm episode.

EF2 Grant County EF2 Grant County EF1 Otter Tail County EF1 Otter Tail County

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 1034166. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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