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EF1 tornado in Otter Tail County, Minnesota

Tornado August 7, 2010 · Otter Tail County, Minnesota

EF1

Rating

4.0 mi

Path length

75 yd

Path width

EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 75 yards (0.04 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 tracked intermittently for about 4 miles, mainly over open fields. However, the tornado did knock down some trees in shelterbelts and left swirls in crops. The tornado and debris cloud was viewed from near Elbow Lake. Peak winds were estimated at 90 mph.

The wider storm

By late in the day on the 7th, an east-west lying warm front had set up just north of the South Dakota border, extending eastward into west central Minnesota. South of the warm front, temperatures were in the mid to upper 80s with dew points in the lower 70s. Thunderstorms formed along and north of the warm front and several produced tornadoes.

Began near Western (46.2000, -96.1200).

Other tornadoes from the same storm system

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

EF4 Wilkin County EF1 Grant County EF1 Otter Tail County EF0 Wilkin County EF0 Wilkin County EF0 Otter Tail County

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 239951. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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