Damage summaries from the two significant tornadoes in the Brainerd Lakes on Monday June 16, 2025.
Credit: National Weather Service Foreast Office, Duluth, MN
A stormy day with multiple rounds of heavy thunderstorms produced several confirmed tornadoes across Minnesota in the late afternoon and evening, in addition to hail, high winds, and heavy rainfall.
A humid and unstable air mass spread into Minnesota early on Monday June 16, as a disturbance and strong winds aloft approached from the west. Thunderstorms had erupted overnight into early Monday morning across western and southern Minnesota, and waves of scattered thunderstorms followed them throughout the day, with some areas hit more than others but most parts of the state hearing rumbles of thunder at some point. Some of the morning and daytime thunderstorms produced hail and gusty winds. One intense thunderstorm streaked southeastward across the center of the Twin Cities, darkening the afternoon skies until streetlights came on, and producing torrential rainfall for 10-20 minutes.
After 2 PM, the "main event" began unfolding, as strong thunderstorms developed in west-central and eventually central Minnesota. The storms initially produced a flurry of small tornadoes and funnel clouds in Otter Tail County, with the area's numerous lakes allowing residents and visitors to see many of these unobstructed and at safe distances.
The storms took a more serious turn as they headed towards the Brainerd Lakes area. In this more wooded area, a tornado developed west of Gull Lake, near Casino, and then crossed the lake, traveling 11.5 miles before lifting off. This tornado uprooted and snapped trees, had a maximum width of 400 yards, and was rated EF 1, with winds estimated to 100 mph by the Duluth National Weather Service office.
The same storm produced a second tornado just minutes later, about two miles to the east-northeast. This tornado traveled 10.9 miles, lifting just to the west of the extensive mountain bike trails and mine pit lakes of the Cuyuna State Recreation Area, just north of Ironton and Crosby. The tornado prompted special messaging from the National Weather Service, indicating a "large, extremely dangerous, and potentially deadly" tornado was on the ground. The tornado was indeed large, with a maximum width of 900 yards. Fortunately, most of the damage was done to trees, and the overall impact was relatively minor, with another EF 1 rating and winds estimated to 100 mph.
Additional strong to severe thunderstorms developed in southern Minnesota during the late afternoon and evening. Although numerous strong cells developed initially with this activity, most of it consolidated into two large "supercell" thunderstorms (storm cells whose updrafts rotate and often produce severe weather and tornadoes) to the west and south of the Twin Cities. One of these storms produce hail larger than baseballs in Waconia. The other produced small and brief tornadoes in Nicollet County--one north of Courtland and one north of Mankato.
Posted June 27, 2025
KAB