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Top 10 Minnesota Severe Weather Events 1990-1999
Scott Woelm / Fridley, MN
Some have called the decade that we recently left behind The Roaring 90’s. Certainly in regards to severe weather in Minnesota, that is a fair title, as the past decade indeed had some historic events.
In the late 1990's I decided to produce a Top Ten list of significant MN severe weather events from 1990-1999. Now that a few years have passed, it's a bit easier to put the events from that decade into perspective, and rank them accordingly. Each "event" was defined by tornadoes, hail (.75 inch and greater) and damaging winds (58 m.p.h. and greater). Ironically, the largest killers; flooding and lightning, were not included as they are not classified as severe.
My list was based on NWS storm reports provided to me by NWS-MPX, data from the NCDC (National Climatic Data Center), my WeatherLogs (which are basically a written form of my own recollection of the events, and how strong I perceived them to be), and my memory of how the event affected the state. The NCDC info helped a lot with the dollar amounts incurred, although some may have been somewhat inaccurate/incomplete.
I reviewed the severe weather events from 1990-1999 and picked what I felt were the most significant from each year. I tried to look at the state as a whole when picking my choices, but regardless, there is a trend towards the southern half of Minnesota (and the Twin Cities Metro area). Part of that is likely related to population density issues, but there were a lot of severe weather events that took place in the southern half during the 1990's. Over the years, MN severe weather climatology also shows a preference for the southern half of the state. This list also appears skewed to the last half of the decade (particularly 1998), but I assure you that events from the first half were given proper consideration.
I then looked at all of the events in respect to the following impact categories; meteorological, climatological (rarity), geographical, economic (damage and cost, which carried a lot of weight on my list), and human toll (fatalities and injuries).
Some events that may have been quite "memorable" failed to make the list, as they didn't truly have the wide coverage and impact that other events did. Some notable tornadic events were omitted because of that (July 21st 1995 is an example).
As you look through my list, please bear in mind that these rankings are my opinion only. I had input from Kenny Blumenfeld (University of MN), Bob Conzemius (University of OK, formerly of KEYC TV in MKT), Todd Krause (NWS-MPX), Dan Miller (NWS-OUN, formerly of NWS-MPX) and William Reid (Continental Weather Services), but the final choices were my own. Some may find issues with the rank of each event, however, I think most will agree that these are indeed the top events from that decade.
I realize that we are inundated with "Top 10 lists" and some people are put off by them, as they are filled with subjectivity and controversy. My list is certainly no exception! However, my goal here is to stimulate memories, and spark some discussion about Minnesota's severe weather history. I hope you enjoy it.
Extraordinary early season tornado outbreak with 14 tornadoes, including the Comfrey (F4 damage) and St. Peter (F3 damage) tornadoes. These tornado path widths exceeded 1 mile at their maximum points. Incredible 67 mile long path length with the Comfrey tornado. 2 fatalities occurred, 1 in/near Comfrey and St. Peter. Most of the tornadoes were produced by the same persistent supercell, which was in progress for over 150 miles. Over 230 million dollars in damage occurred. Given the magnitude of this event, along with the time of year in which it took place, it rates the #1 spot on this list.
A rapidly moving linear storm with embedded supercells blazed across southern into central MN with high winds, hail and 5 tornadoes. Other severe storms affected parts of northern MN. 1 fatality with 30 injuries in Albany. Tremendous wind driven hail damage in the Twin Cities Metro area. At almost 1 billion dollars (954 million and still counting), this was by far the costliest MN severe weather event in the decade. I gave this very underrated event serious consideration for the #1 spot on this list, and it was a very close second.
Far and away the largest tornado outbreak in MN history. A total of 27 tornadoes swept across the southern half of MN. These included violent tornadoes at Chandler (F5 damage) and Lake Wilson (F4 damage). 1 fatality in Chandler. Many of these tornadoes came from the same supercell. A large linear storm later swept across southern MN with many severe reports. Over 160 million dollars in damage occurred. This event also could have been rated #1.
Significant downburst and hail event across the southern half of MN. A very costly event with over 218 million dollars in damage. 22 injuries were reported. Across the border in SD, the Spencer tornado (F4 damage) took place, but no tornadoes occurred in MN. This same system also produced substantial damage in Wisconsin, and continued producing severe weather all the way to the east coast of the US. An extraordinarily long lived system.
Major damage from an HP supercell and linear downburst event in central MN. Heavy concentration of damage to the area northwest of the Twin Cities Metro (Wright and Sherburne county) and in its northern suburbs. Well over 170 million dollars in damage took place statewide. 18 tornadoes were counted across MN (the second highest all time recorded total), including one in Wright County that produced F3 damage.
Major downburst event to the Boundary Waters Canoe Area in northern MN, with an unbelievable loss of trees in that area. Radar data suggests a combination of a large linear storm and a supercell (similar to 1July97) were responsible for the event. This may have been rated higher had it taken place in an urban area.
Significant late night/early morning downburst and hail event in the southern half of MN, with the southern Twin Cities Metro hit very hard by damaging winds. Many homes were affected with over 40 million dollars in damage taking place statewide with this system. This event was comprised of both supercells and linear storms.
Amazing very late season tornado outbreak with 14 tornadoes, five of which did F2 damage. There were 11 injuries but no fatalities with these very fast moving tornadoes, all spawned from low-topped supercells.
A somewhat lesser known and very underrated series of downbursts that took place from western into northern MN on 3 consecutive nights. Significant tree damage took place across several counties. This is another event that could have been rated higher had it taken place in an urban area.
Late season tornado outbreak with 6 tornadoes across central MN. Two of the tornadoes did F3 damage, one of which was rated "strong F3", and may have even been violent. This tornado caused 1 fatality in Lastrup. Although there were other events with more total tornadoes that failed to make this list, none of those equaled the ferocity of these September tornadoes.