Preliminary info on the June 16, 2025 Tornadoes

Preliminary Overview

A very moist and unstable atmosphere led to multiple rounds of thunderstorms on Monday, June 16th, 2025 across Minnesota. The first round of scattered storms developed over western and southeastern Minnesota during the early morning hours on Monday. Warm-air advection primarily facilitated the lift for these storms. While the storms in western Minnesota were not noteworthy, the ones in southeastern Minnesota did lead to some localized flooding. This was due to the "training" of storms as new storms developed behind the old ones and passed over the same area. Radar estimated rainfall maps showed a small 4-6" swath of rain fell from Minnesota Lake to Alden. The flooding caused a couple of road closures and water into residents' basements in Alden.

Just before noon, another cluster of storms formed in central Minnesota. This cluster passed through St. Cloud and produced severe wind gusts that caused several reports of trees damaged/falling. The storm then continued southeast along Interstate 94 into the Twin Cities metro, producing one more wind damage report near Plymouth before dissipating after crossing into Wisconsin. While the aforementioned storm was weakening, a few supercells formed in west-central Minnesota near Fergus Falls and traveled east. These storms were associated with the main upper-level shortwave and had the most environmental synoptic support. As a result, a few tornadoes (including one longer track) occurred with this activity mainly in NWS Grand Forks and Duluth's forecast areas. However, a tornado did occur in Todd county near the town of Bertha at around 3:41 PM. The only damage reported from this tornado so far was a barn that had its roof blown off. The storms eventually formed into a line and continued east until they reached Wisconsin and slowly dissipated.

The final round of storms occurred at around 5:00 PM in south-central Minnesota. Two dominant right-moving supercells prevailed from initial scattered convection and traveled southeast over the next couple of hours. The northern supercell traveled from just east of Hutchinson to Waconia and then eventually through Lakeville before dissipating. A few funnels were reported by spotters but no tornadoes occurred. However, 3.25" hail fell in Waconia. The southern supercell formed near New Ulm and traveled through Mankato and St. Clair before dissipating. Two tornadoes were observed near Courtland and Nicollet but no damage has been reported yet. 2" hail fell in Mankato and a funnel was spotted near St. Clair.

We have survey crews assisting in investigating damage in north-central Minnesota, including Crow Wing county. We also have received photos, videos, and damage reports from the multiple rounds of storms.

***More details will be updated as we finalize the damage assessment***


A list of the latest storm reports will be updated as we finalize the damage assessment.