EF2 Tornado — Wadena, Minnesota

2008-06-06 · near Menahga, Wadena, Minnesota

Event narrative

The tornado touched down near the south end of Stocking Lake and tracked north-northeast for nearly 14 miles. It crossed into Hubbard County about 4 miles north-northeast of Menagha by 920 am CDT. It then tracked an additional 9 miles and lifted about 3 miles northeast of Park Rapids by 934 am CDT. The maximum tornado width was about 450 yards with peak winds of 130 mph. Eight large turkey barns were destroyed and several homes damaged along with hundreds of acres of forest. One man working near a turkey barn was injured.

Wider weather episode

A vertically stacked cold-core low pressure system moved into the Red River Valley and brought ideal conditions for low topped mini supercells. A negatively tilted 500 mb trough, diffluent height field, and a strong upper level disturbance were all present. At the surface, there was even a warm front east of the low, toward Hubbard and Wadena Counties.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (46.7500, -95.0800)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 118392. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.