EF1 Tornado — Swift, Minnesota

2025-05-15 · near Benson, Swift, Minnesota

2.7 mi

Path length

50 yds

Path width

Event narrative

A tornado developed approximately 3 miles to the SSE of Benson. Visible debris was reported by trained spotters and law enforcement. The tornado caused damage to some farm outbuildings before lifting just north of the intersection of US-12 and 10th St NE. Multiple damage photos and the detailed track were provided, so a virtual storm survey was conducted on this tornado. Its maximum wind was estimated at 95 mph.

Wider weather episode

A very strong low pressure system produced storms on Thursday, May 15th, 2025 across the Upper Midwest. Two main areas of storms formed across south and west central Minnesota during the early afternoon.

One line of storms formed over west central Minnesota, producing a few tornadoes in Chippewa, Swift, and western Stearns counties. Another line of storms had many rotating wall clouds reported over south central Minnesota and into the Twin Cities metro.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (45.2740, -95.5750)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1260593. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.