F2 Tornado — Rice, Minnesota

2001-05-09 · near Northfield, Rice, Minnesota

Event narrative

NWS damage survey rated the tornado an F2. Tornado touched down briefly in downtown Northfield, flipping over a semi trailer truck and lifting the roof off of one business. Three-fourths mile later, it touched down again on the east side of Northfield, and then remained on the ground for 11 miles. After being in Rice County for 5 miles, it crossed Highway 19 into Dakota County and then dissipated in Goodhue County 4 miles west of Cannon Falls, for a total of 12 miles. Numerous rear flank downdraft gusts estimated at 90 mph caused damage alongside the southern periphery of tornado track. One man sustained minor injuries when he was blown from a tractor, but did not require hospitalization. A total of 8 homes received major damage, 22 more had minor damage, and a turkey processing plant was destroyed.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (44.4667, -93.1667)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 5250117. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.