Near Miss: WI tornado nearly ‘the big one’ for MSP

We've reported extensively on last week's devastating Chetek, Wis., tornado. But we are just now beginning to realize how lucky we got in the Twin Cities last Tuesday.

EF Scale boosted

The Twin Cities National Weather Service has upgraded the intensity of last week's Chetek, Wis., tornado from EF2 to EF3. The NWS boosted the tornado's top estimated wind speed from 130 mph to 145 mph based on new damage reports.

Longest tornado on record in Wisconsin?

Perhaps more stunning, the updated NWS damage survey shows Wisconsin tornado tore across the ground for an amazing 83 miles.

This long-track tornado appears to set the record for the longest tornado track in Wisconsin since records began in 1950.

Twin Cities 'near miss'

The parent thunderstorm that dropped the deadly tornado in Wisconsin formed right over the northeast Twin Cities metro area. Look at the developing storm as it moves into a favorable area for significant tornadoes last Tuesday afternoon.

Soon after moving east from the Twin Cities, this storm would drop the tornado down near Clear Lake, Wis.. Clear Lake is just 45 miles northeast of downtown of St. Paul.

The Chetek tornado touched down just 50 miles northeast of the Twin Cities urban metro core. That may seem like a lot of distance. But atmospherically speaking it's a very close call.

If that storm had developed just 60 to 90 minutes earlier, and about 50 to 70 miles farther southwest, the tornado would have cut a devastating path right through the heart of the Twin Cities metro.

In that scenario damage, injuries and fatalities would have likely skyrocketed. That's what keeps me and other Twin Cities meteorologists up at night.

The Twin Cities got really, really lucky last Tuesday.