Minnesota's first tornadoes of the year accompanied a mass of rain and thunderstorms on Tuesday May 26, 2020.
Amid a moderately wet pattern spanning several days in southern parts of the state, a spiraling weather system lunged northward from eastern Oklahoma and Kansas late Monday night into early Tuesday morning, crossing Kansas City near noon and making it into western Iowa by afternoon.
As the system approached the region, dew points in the upper 60s and temperatures above 80F spread into southern and eastern Minnesota. The circulation of the weather system ignited several waves of showers and thunderstorms, with the heaviest forming along and near the western edge of the warm and humid air mass, draped from near Hinckley, down into the Twin Cities, and towards Albert Lea.
The National Weather Service confirmed that two of the storms produced small tornadoes. One was reported in residential Rosemount in Dakota County, where a small area of light damage occurred. Another tornado traveled for a half-mile in Freeborn County, producing scattered tree damage.
The storms produced prolonged moderate to occasionally heavy rains in some areas on Tuesday afternoon and evening. The southeastern third of Minnesota received widespread 1-2" rainfall totals. Parts of the southeastern Twin Cities area, from Dakota into Washington counties, reported 2 to sometimes over three inches of rain.
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT...SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TWIN CITIES/CHANHASSEN MN
641 PM CDT WED MAY 27 2020
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0215 PM HAIL 4 SE BOYD 44.91N 90.98W
05/26/2020 M0.88 INCH CHIPPEWA WI TRAINED SPOTTER
HAIL LASTED LESS THAN A MINUTE WITH JUST A
FEW STONES.
0500 PM TSTM WND DMG 5 NW DALLAS 45.30N 91.89W
05/26/2020 BARRON WI PUBLIC
ROOF BLOWN OFF OUTBUILDING, SOFFITS RIPPED
OFF BARN.
0510 PM FUNNEL CLOUD 3 SW ALDEN 43.64N 93.62W
05/26/2020 FREEBORN MN LAW ENFORCEMENT
FUNNEL CLOUD ALSO PHOTOGRAPHED.
0549 PM FUNNEL CLOUD 2 SSE FREEBORN 43.74N 93.54W
05/26/2020 FREEBORN MN TRAINED SPOTTER
THIS WAS ONE OF TWO FUNNEL CLOUDS AT THE
SAME TIME THAT WERE PHOTOGRAPHED BY SEVERAL
PEOPLE AND REPORTED BY TRAINED SPOTTERS, AND
WHICH LASTED 10-15 MINUTES. THE OTHER FUNNEL
CLOUD WAS A LITTLE FARTHER NORTH.
0602 PM FUNNEL CLOUD 1 SW HARTLAND 43.79N 93.51W
05/26/2020 FREEBORN MN BROADCAST MEDIA
CORRECTS PREVIOUS FUNNEL CLOUD REPORT FROM 1
SW HARTLAND. ROPE FUNNEL NEARLY AT THE
GROUND, INCONCLUSIVE BASED ON TWITTER
PICTURES. NO DAMAGE REPORTED NOR ANY DEBRIS
CLOUD WITNESSED. TIME CORRECTED BASED ON
TIME STAMP.
0700 PM FUNNEL CLOUD DURAND 44.63N 91.96W
05/26/2020 PEPIN WI PUBLIC
REPORT VIA FACEBOOK WITH PICTURE OF FUNNEL.
0715 PM TORNADO 1 NE ROSEMOUNT 44.75N 93.11W
05/26/2020 DAKOTA MN EMERGENCY MNGR
DOCUMENTED BY NON-NWS METEOROLOGIST WITH
EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT, ALONG WITH DAMAGE
PICTURES. FEW TREES DOWN. TOUCHDOWN WAS
BRIEF AND TORNADO WENT INTO AN OPEN AREA
BEFORE DISSIPATING.
0725 PM TORNADO 8 NE MYRTLE 43.65N 93.06W
05/26/2020 FREEBORN MN TRAINED SPOTTER
TORNADO WAS CAUGHT ON VIDEO FOR ABOUT ONE
MINUTE AS IT MOVED TO THE NORTH-NORTHWEST.
DEBRIS CLOUD WAS VISIBLE AND A FEW TREES
WERE KNOCKED DOWN. PATH LENGTH APPROXIMATELY
1/2 MILE.
0730 PM FUNNEL CLOUD 5 NW DUNDAS 44.49N 93.27W
05/26/2020 DAKOTA MN TRAINED SPOTTER
0800 PM TSTM WND DMG 2 W CEDAR FALLS 44.94N 91.93W
05/26/2020 DUNN WI AMATEUR RADIO
FEW TREES DOWN. TIME APPROXIMATE.
0800 PM TSTM WND DMG 1 SSW TAINTER LAKE 44.97N 91.85W
05/26/2020 DUNN WI AMATEUR RADIO
FEW TREES DOWN, INCLUDING ONE OF 16 INCH
DIAMETER. TIME APPROXIMATE.
0832 PM TSTM WND DMG KENYON 44.27N 92.99W
05/26/2020 GOODHUE MN TRAINED SPOTTER
LARGE TREE LIMB DOWN AT THE CORNER OF RED
WING AVE. AND 1ST ST. DIAMETER ESTIMATED AT
12-18 INCHES. TIME ESTIMATED FROM RADAR.
Modified May 28, 2020