Thunderstorm Wind — Yellow Medicine, Minnesota

2016-07-16 · near Granite Falls, Yellow Medicine, Minnesota

Event narrative

Several sources from the media, law enforcement and trained spotters reported widespread damage across the city of Granite Falls. Numerous trees and power lines were blown down along with some roof damage to businesses. The area was concentrated west and south of the Minnesota River in Yellow Medicine County.

Wider weather episode

A significant bow echo developed near the South Dakota, Minnesota border early Saturday evening, July 16th. This bow echo moved southeast along the Minnesota River Valley and caused significant wind damage around Granite Falls where widespread trees and power lines were blown down. This also included major power lines for Xcel Energy and Great River Energy outside of Granite Falls which caused additional problems. There was damage in the city industrial park, where at least one structure was destroyed and a few others damaged. Officials indicated that the damage to homes seemed moderate, with some trees falling on properties. At the airport, the Fagen Fighters Museum reported three T-hangars and the contents inside destroyed, including at least three planes. There was also a measured wind gust of 60 knots at the Montevideo airport

As this system raced southeast across south central Minnesota, a few more reports of wind damage occurred. However, the storm weakened considerably but torrential rainfall and training thunderstorms led to flooding, especially around St. James.

There were several wind gusts of 40 to 50 mph across south central Minnesota between 9:00 PM and 11:00 PM CST, with a measured wind gust of 53 mph at the Mankato airport at 1035 PM CST.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (44.8174, -95.5732)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 647091. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.