Extreme Heat and Fire Weather Conditions in the West; Severe Thunderstorm Threat in the Northern Plains on Thursday

Extreme heat will may set some new daily temperature records across the Desert Southwest. Hot, dry and windy conditions and dry thunderstorms continue to bring fire weather concerns for portions of the Desert Southwest, the central Great Basin and Rockies. Severe thunderstorms and heavy rain are expected across the Northern Plains late Thursday. Read More >

Overview

A nearly stationary front was draped across southern Minnesota on the afternoon of Monday, August 5, 2024. A very unstable airmass with strong shear was present along and south of the front. Two supercells initially developed over Nicollet and Watonwan Counties, then strengthened while tracking southeast. Supercells eventually formed a line of severe thunderstorms, which continued to result in occasional tornadoes and damaging wind gusts across south central MN through 8:30 PM.

Damage survey crews have examined 4 tornado tracks, but more are possible in the coming days as more information becomes available.

***This page will continue to be updated as more information comes in***

Tornado
Wind & Hail
Radar
Storm Reports

Tornadoes

Tornado - St. James, MN
Watonwan County

Date	8/5/2024
Time (Local)	5:26-5:28 PM
EF Rating	EF-1
Est. Peak Winds	100 MPH
Path Length	2.3 mi
Injuries/Deaths	0/0
Summary: Non-continuous crop damage, trees uprooted, and a power pole damaged.

Track Map

Download KMZ File


Base Reflectivity (Left) and Velocity (Right) at 5:24 PM	Base Reflectivity (Left) and Velocity (Right) at 5:30 PM	Uprooted trees at residence near St. James.	Crop damage and tornado's path crossing Township Rd 125 (courtesy of Watonwan Co. Emergency Management)

Tornado - Janesville, MN
Blue Earth-Waseca Counties

Date	8/5/2024
Time (Local)	6:19-6:33PM
EF Rating	EF-1
Est. Peak Winds	105 MPH
Path Length	6.25 mi
Injuries/Deaths	0/0
Summary: Garage door blown in, an empty farm trailer was blown onto its side, numerous trees uprooted or snapped, and a couple power poles were down.

Track Map

Download KMZ File


Roof panel blown into a tree	Snapped and uprooted trees	Uprooted tree fallen onto a grain bin	Radar image from around 6:20 PM

Tornado - Otisco/South of Waseca, MN
Waseca County

Date	8/5/2024
Time (Local)	6:58-7:00 PM
EF Rating	EF-1
Est. Peak Winds	105 MPH
Path Length	1.4 mi
Injuries/Deaths	0/0
Summary: Multiple large trees snapped or uprooted.

Track Map

Download KMZ File


Large tree with trunk snapped	Several tree limbs blown onto a shed	Radar image from around 6:40pm	Radar image from around 6:40pm

Tornado - Wells, MN
Faribault County

Date	8/5/2024
Time (Local)	7:28-7:42 PM
EF Rating	EF-0
Est. Peak Winds	80 MPH
Path Length	4.9 mi
Injuries/Deaths	0/0
Summary: A few trees uprooted or broken. This tornado mostly moved across corn and bean fields. Satellite imagery was used to determine the start and end points.

Track Map

Download KMZ File

Tornado - Twin Lakes/Emmons, MN
Freeborn County

Date	8/5/2024
Time (Local)	7:50-8:06 PM
EF Rating	EF-1
Est. Peak Winds	105 MPH
Path Length	6.6 mi
Injuries/Deaths	0/0
Summary: Trees uprooted or trunks snapped. Some outbuildings were heavily damaged. One silo was lofted toward a tree line.

Track Map

Download KMZ File


Velocity at 751 PM	Velocity at 756 PM	Damage near Emmons	Tree Damage along 120th St

The Enhanced Fujita (EF) Scale classifies tornadoes into the following categories:

EF0 Weak 65-85 mph	EF1 Moderate 86-110 mph	EF2 Significant 111-135 mph	EF3 Severe 136-165 mph	EF4 Extreme 166-200 mph	EF5 Catastrophic 200+ mph

Wind & Hail:

Add a written summary or simply an LSR map in this section. If writing an extensive report, you can break the report down into wind and hail below (otherwise delete).

Wind

Insert summary here.


Caption	Caption	Caption	Caption

Hail

Insert summary here.


Caption	Caption	Caption	Caption

Radar

Header


Caption	Caption	Caption	Caption

Storm Reports

Insert storm reports here. Copy in PNS or paste map.

Media use of NWS Web News Stories is encouraged!
Please acknowledge the NWS as the source of any news information accessed from this site.

MPX RSS Feed

Extreme Heat and Fire Weather Conditions in the West; Severe Thunderstorm Threat in the Northern Plains on Thursday

August 5, 2024 Southern Minnesota Tornadoes