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EF1 tornado in Pennington County, Minnesota

Tornado August 13, 2020 · Pennington County, Minnesota

EF1

Rating

2.0 mi

Path length

120 yd

Path width

EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 120 yards (0.07 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

A tornado knocked down several trees and branches in shelterbelts along its path. One power pole was snapped. The track was based on a combination of reports and satellite imagery. Peak winds were estimated at 90 mph.

The wider storm

By the early evening of Thursday, August 13th, an area of surface low pressure had set up near Mayville, North Dakota. A warm front extended out to the east-southeast from the low. South of the warm front, temperatures were in the mid to upper 80s, with dew points in the lower 70s. Thunderstorms broke out along and north of the warm front, producing large hail, damaging wind gusts, and two tornadoes.

Began near Hazel (48.0700, -96.0400).

Other tornadoes from the same storm system

1 more tornado the National Weather Service filed under this storm episode.

EF0 Norman County

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 911115. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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