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Minnesota News
Andrew Krueger and Estelle Timar-Wilcox
Updated:

National Weather Service confirms EF2 tornadoes touched down in Minnesota on Wednesday

A tree is uprooted and down in a yard.
The National Weather Service says damage left by severe storms at Rabbit Lake north of Crosby on Wednesday night was caused by a tornado.
Kirsti Marohn | MPR News

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The National Weather Service says two of the four confirmed tornadoes that touched down in central Minnesota on Wednesday evening were rated EF2, with maximum winds of 115 to 120 mph.

One of the EF2 tornadoes followed a 3.2-mile path near Upper Whitefish and Clamshell lakes, west of Crosslake in Crow Wing County, with a maximum width of 700 yards.

The other tracked for 13.1 miles from Wolford in Crow Wing County, north of Crosby, east to Rabbit Lake and then into Aitkin County. It had a maximum width of 200 yards.

Both caused major damage to trees, power lines and buildings. The Weather Service said the tornado near Crosslake tore more than half the roof deck from a few homes, and residents “reported a nearly hour-long storm surge of 1 to 2 feet from Upper Whitefish Lake.” The tornadoes also flipped boats and RVs.

A mobile home/RV is flipped over.
Severe storms flipped a camper along State Highway 6 near Rabbit Lake north of Crosby on Wednesday night. The National Weather Service says the damage was caused by a tornado.
Kirsti Marohn | MPR News

There were no reports of serious injuries or fatalities from the storms.

Storm survey crews also confirmed weaker EF0 tornado touchdowns near Glen in Aitkin County, and near Wright in Carlton County.

The tornadoes were spawned by severe storms across central and northern Minnesota on Wednesday evening that also produced very large hail.

The National Weather Service said Friday that it’s still reviewing damage reports, photos and video to assess Wednesday’s storms and possible additional tornado touchdowns.

Wednesday night’s storms also caused significant damage in areas from St. Cloud and Sartell north toward Little Falls and Camp Ripley.

a woman cuts remains of a downed tree
Stephanie Wolford-Miller helps an elderly neighbor to clear the remains of a downed tree Thursday along Eighth Avenue North in Sartell.
Kimm Anderson for MPR News

Residents and utility crews continued working on storm cleanup on Friday. As of Friday morning, only a few dozen homes and businesses across central and northern Minnesota remained without power — down from more than 15,000 in the immediate aftermath of the storms.

Crow Wing Power reported that its crews had to replace more than 16 broken utility poles, in addition to damage to power lines.