Radar animation showing initial tornadic supercells evolving into a large and slow-moving complex of heavy to severe thunderstorms Saturday June 28 to Sunday June 29, 2025.
Radar loop courtesy of National Weather Service, Twin Cities/Chanhassen
A surge of warm and very humid air into Minnesota set the stage for yet another outbreak of tornadoes, along with areas of very heavy rain from Saturday June 28 into Sunday June 29, 2025.
Although there had been showers and thunderstorms across much of Minnesota during the day, the primary event began around 6 PM in an area from eastern South Dakota into western Minnesota, from near Madison to Alexandria. These storms drew upon the intense heating to their south, as well generally light winds that shifted directions with height in a manner that enabled storms to move slowly while reaching very severe levels.
The storms began producing reported tornadoes in Lac qui Parle and Swift counties between 7 and 8 PM, with a large tornado reported west of Canby, right on the South Dakota border around 830 PM. For the next two hours, a family of rotating, "supercell" thunderstorms produced occasional, highly photogenic, and at times damaging tornadoes just west of the Minnesota/South Dakota border.
These large and powerful thunderstorms gradually moved southward, as other intense storms spread eastward into central and southern Minnesota. Just after midnight, as the storms were moving slowly into the western Twin Cities area, additional tornadoes developed quickly in Carver County, striking north of Waconia into Victoria, south of Cologne, and between Cologne and Waconia. The National Weather Service in Chanhassen rated the two tornadoes near Waconia and Victoria at EF1, with maximum winds of 95 and 90 mph.
The slow movement of thunderstorms led to pockets of prolonged, very heavy rains, with the heaviest in western Yellow Medicine county, where downpours lasted up to and even over two hours in some areas. Rainfall totals of 2.5 to 4.5 inches in these areas led to localized flooding and some damage to area roads. Other pockets of heavy rain fell in southwestern Minnesota and in eastern Wright and far northwestern Hennepin Counties, with totals of 1.5 to 3 inches common in these areas.
The large slow-moving storms also led to extended displays of vivid lightning, sometimes appearing 2-3 hours before the onset of rainfall an eastern and southern Minnesota.
This article will be updated as additional tornado & damage surveys are completed.
Posted July 1, 2025
KAB