EF0 tornado in Stearns County, Minnesota

A storm chaser reported a brief tornado, and so a storm survey was conducted. The tornado tracked mostly across fields, but it did damage about two dozen trees, some of which were knocked over. The tornado was not always strong enough to produce corn and tree damage, but it did so occasionally along its path. The storm chaser took drone video a few days later, also revealing the tornado path.

Severe thunderstorms that developed across South Dakota early Saturday morning, August 28th, quickly moved into west central Minnesota and produced up to 3 diameter hail in Swift County. These storms congealed into a fast moving bow-echo that surged across parts of central Minnesota, between Willmar, St. Cloud and Mora. Several areas received very large hail, severe wind gusts and straight-line winds, and there was one tornado south of Albany. As the storms moved over east-central Minnesota, the severity of the storms lessened and only produced isolated wind damage around Milaca. The worst damaged areas were near Glenwood, Sauk Centre, and north and east of St. Cloud where numerous trees were blown down.