Tornadoes in the Twin Cities

[Simple Living]

An interesting fact is that the original layout of the buildings in downtown Minneapolis were purposely laid out and constructed in such a way that, should a tornado ever head towards into downtown, it would break up the tornado.

A tornado within the city of Minneapolis is rare. When they do strike, it's usually in north Minneapolis. Other than that, the last time a tornado struck the downtown area was on a day in August of 2009, when no severe weather was predicted or expected.

It touched down, gently but firmly, in the area of the Convention Center where the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America were meeting to discuss whether to allow homosexuals to serve in their clergy. The tornado touched the Convention Center and also broke the cross off the steeple of the Lutheran church across the street.

It was memorable and made the news, evoking a lot of discussions regarding the "irony."

[chessgeek]

Originally Posted by David A Stone

I recall a bad one in 1965

That outbreak hit the northern suburb of Fridley hard in early May. I was 5 years old. My family lived there and about a third of our roof disappeared. We were safe in the basement. Will never forget it!

Thanks for the details, Ghengis! Don't believe any tornadoes since then in the Twin Cities have been measured as an F4.

[mn55110]

The late evening April 26, 1984 tornado which touched-down in: Northeast Minneapolis, St. Anthony, and New Brighton destroyed the Apache Plaza Shopping Center. This enclosed shopping mall was rebuilt, but struggled mightily then closed a decade later; competition from Rosedale Mall in Roseville proved too much. That area has still never recovered, retail wise.

There are several videos on You Tube, TC Media Now, and other online sources of the July 1986 tornado which NBC affiliate KARE-TV Channel 11 (then was WUSA-TV) aired live that afternoon rush hour from their "SKY 11" News/Traffic helicopter as the twister moved from Brooklyn Park across the river into Coon Rapids and Fridley. Still one of the most documented tornado's around still 31-years later.

The August 19, 2009 tornado did minor damage to south Minneapolis before moving downtown and damaging the Minneapolis Convention Center and some of the churches nearby.

I vaguely remember a 1979 tornado near Metropolitan Stadium in Bloomington, where Mall of America stands now where some of the homes and businesses received damage.

The 1981 tornado which touched down over Lake Harriet did do quite a bit of damage to those neighborhoods east of the lake before moving across and down Lake Street. I remember the TV stations breaking into programming because the city was asking Lake Street business owners to come board-up shattered windows and secure damaged store fronts in order to prevent looting before evening set-in. Yes, Uptown and Lyn-Lake were far different in the Summer of 1981 than they are 36-years later. I didn't learn until decades later how the destruction of Har-Mar Mall almost brought a newer electronics store named "Sound-Of-Music" to a financial end. That store with only a few metro area stores at that time we now know as "Best Buy Company". A lot of the homes along County Road C in Roseville were damaged before continuing on into Little Canada and Shoreview.

The May 1965 tornado which leveled Fridley that night started around Osseo, and continued across the northern suburbs through Fridley and on past Hugo. What has always amazed me about that path was in 1965, Fridley was one of the only fully developed northern suburb at the time. If a similar strength tornado followed that same path at night now days, the loss of life would be catastrophic.

The 2008 tornado striking Hugo, Centerville, and Lino Lakes proved tragic as did the September 2006 tornado which did extensive damage to Rogers after dark. Still to this day, Rogers residents claim the Civil Defense Sirens never warned the community.

[Glenfield]

Here's the channel 11 news from June 14, 1981 covering the Edina/ Lake Harriet/ Roseville/ Har Mar tornado. WTCN-TV NewsCenter 11 10pm June 14, 1981, Edina and Roseville Tornadoes | TC Media Now

[Campfires]

Originally Posted by gweilo845

Touchdowns in the metro area are pretty rare since the air is hotter around cities and dissipates somewhat the conditions that produce tornados.

Speaking of "hot air"...

[Unsettomati]

The Twin Cities comparatively rarely get hit by tornadoes because Hennepin and Ramsey counties combined comprise less than 1% of the area of the state of Minnesota. The greater Twin Cities to the extent of the urban/suburban sprawl is maybe 2% of the state. Given that the long-term average is for Minnesota to see about 35 tornadoes per year, the metro will only get hit infrequently.

And yet, tornadoes do hit the metro area. In the 1980s there were the famous Brooklyn Park tornado (broadcast live from a nearby helicopter - at the time some of the best footage ever recorded of a tornado) and the Apache Plaza and Har Mar tornadoes. A 1965 outbreak consisting of multiple F4s ravaged the northern suburbs (hundreds of homes destroyed in Fridley) and there was the Minneapolis tornado of a few years ago.

Between 2000 and 2012 (as recent as the data below goes) there were 9 tornadoes recorded in Hennepin, though none in Ramsey - the latter is probably a consequence of Ramsey being the smallest county in the state by far.
Minnesota Tornadoes

[Doctor Z]

The Twin Cities, MN metro area comprises 7-Counties. Minneapolis is located in Hennepin County, and St. Paul is located in Ramsey County. The Tornado history for the 7-County metro area is as follows for the period of 1950 thru 2016:

Anoka 23
Carver 20
Dakota 28
Hennepin 31
Ramsey 9
Scott 14
Washington 22
Total: 147

Interesting fact: Ramsey County is the SMALLEST County in the entire State of Minnesota.
Just a note, on March 6th of THIS year (2017) Minnesota experienced it's earliest tornado outbreak on record. That tornado touched down just 35 miles NW of Minneapolis.

Finally, just this last Wednesday (July 12, 2017) a tornado touched down near Forest Lake, MN at 2am. This is in the extreme NE corner of the metro area in Washington County.

Source: Minnesota Tornado History and Statistics: Minnesota DNR

[ellysbelly]

Minneapolis is fairly low on the incidences of natural disasters, which would include tornadoes (Minneapolis was ranked by Forbes (as of 2009, at least) as the safest city, the rankings took into consideration the violent crime rate, traffic fatalities, and natural disasters, etc): https://www.forbes.com/2009/10/26/sa...hisSpeed=15000

[paulsonj72]

Sorry to bump an old topic BUT here is radio coverage from WCCO and the May 6 1965 Tornado outbreak. Many people say the death toll would have been even higher without the radio coverage of WCCO. It is in 3 parts.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z37F...f&index=2&t=0s

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WUW3...m5d0vf&index=2

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3-oX...m5d0vf&index=3

[mnguy88]

Originally Posted by mn55110

The 2008 tornado striking Hugo, Centerville, and Lino Lakes proved tragic as did the September 2006 tornado which did extensive damage to Rogers after dark. Still to this day, Rogers residents claim the Civil Defense Sirens never warned the community.

From Rogers here. I wasn’t home at the time, but some of my family were. The tornado ripped through out of no where at night with no sirens. My brother only figured something serious was happening when he heard a loud noise like trains coming through and then saw our roof fly away. One fatality in our small quiet neighborhood, but many were lucky despite the lack of sirens.