National Weather Service United States Department of Commerce

Overview

Late in the afternoon on Friday, August 14, scattered strong to severe thunderstorms tracked east across Minnesota. While the storms initially produced small hail, wind damage, and minor flooding as they tracked across the Iron Range, a cluster of storms rapidly matured and surged eastward after moving across Lake Mille Lacs, producing a few brief tornadoes as they approached the Interstate 35 corridor. These tornadoes were all brief in duration and short in length, with the strongest tornado producing high-end EF-1 damage west of Moose Lake. The line of storms then took on a bowing structure and produced widespread wind damage along and east of the I-35 corridor, especially in Pine and Carlton counties. While some of this damage was initially suspected to be possibly from a tornado, further inspection of ground, aerial, and satellite imagery did not find sufficient evidence that a tornado occurred east of I-35. NWS appreciates the numerous photos and videos of damage that assisted greatly in the assessment of this storm damage from spotters, Carlton County Emergency Management, and the public.

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