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EF0 tornado in Washington County, Minnesota

Tornado May 22, 2011 · Washington County, Minnesota

EF0

Rating

2.6 mi

Path length

75 yd

Path width

$50K

Damage as recorded

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 EF0 means. On the Enhanced Fujita scale, EF0 is light damage: shingles and siding peeled, gutters torn, branches broken, consistent with estimated gusts of 65–85 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

An EF-0 tornado touched down near 200th Street and Imperial Avenue, or about three miles southeast of Forest Lake, Minnesota. It moved north-northeast, and dissipated on the north side of Forest Lake, near Shadeland Point. Damaged was confined to trees, roof shingles, and a large metal shed. The tornado was viewed by multiple spotters, chasers, law enforcement officers, and was seen on a MNDOT camera.

The wider storm

During the early afternoon of Sunday May 22nd, a line of thunderstorms developed across south central Minnesota, and quickly moved north and northeast across east-central Minnesota, and into west-central Wisconsin. One spawned a tornado in North Minneapolis, and crossed into southern Anoka County. Another tornado occurred near Ham Lake, and another near Forest Lake that afternoon.

Began near Forest Lake (45.2374, -92.9426).

Other tornadoes from the same storm system

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

EF1 Hennepin County 1 dead EF0 Anoka County

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 294123. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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