December Preview: Snowy AM coating & wintery chill; Unprecedented November tornadoes

Posted at 7:28 AM on November 12, 2012 by Paul Huttner

Snow showers this morning in the metro

Unprecedented mid-November tornadoes Saturday night

Two EF-0 tornadoes ripped through south metro

75 mph to 80 mph winds caused damage

December chill levels Temps in the 20s & 30s today

Our morning band of snow showers created a few slick roads this morning in the metro. Expect some slippery spots for the first time this fall & winter season.

Tonight will be the coldest night of the season so far in Minnesota with teens in most of the state by Tuesday morning.

Unprecedented tornado "mini-outbreak" Saturday night:

Residents in the south metro were stunned to hear trees snapping as two brief tornadoes spun up along a cold front that slammed through the Twin Cities metro Saturday night.

Two EF-0 twisters hit areas around Burnsville and Eagan as they raced northeast.

Twin Cities NWS found the details from a storm survey Sunday.

PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TWIN CITIES/CHANHASSEN MN 829 PM CST SUN NOV 11 2012

...TWO BRIEF EF-0 TORNADOES CONFIRMED IN THE SOUTH TWIN CITIES METRO FROM SATURDAY NIGHT...

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS COMPLETED DAMAGE SURVEYS FOR A NARROW SWATH OF DAMAGE FROM NEAR THE BURNSVILLE CENTER...NORTHEAST TO THE HOLMAN FIELD AIRPORT NEAR DOWNTOWN ST PAUL. HERE IS A SUMMARY OF THE TORNADO TRACKS.

Twister #1 touched down in Burnsville. Here are the details from the Twin Cities NWS storm survey team.

...TORNADO 1 /BURNSVILLE/...

START LOCATION: JUST NORTHEAST OF THE INTERSECTION OF MCANDREWS RD AND COUNTY ROAD 5.

END LOCATION: JUST SOUTHWEST OF THE INTERSECTION OF BURNSVILLE PKWY AND HIGHWAY 11.

STRENGTH RATING: EF-0 WITH 80 MPH WINDS.

START TIME: 1058 PM SAT NOV 10
END TIME: 1101 PM SAT NOV 10

PATH LENGTH: 2.6 MILES
PATH WIDTH: 100 YARDS
INJURIES: 0
FATALITIES: 0

NARRATIVE: AN EF-0 TORNADO SPUN UP JUST NORTHEAST OF THE
INTERSECTION OF COUNTY ROAD 5 AND MCANDREWS RD AND
TRACKED NORTHEAST TO JUST SOUTHWEST OF THE INTERSECTION
OF BURNSVILLE PKWY AND HWY 11. NUMEROUS TREES AND POWER
LINES WERE BLOWN DOWN ALONG THE PATH...SOME FELL ONTO
HOUSES. A STOP SIGN WAS BENT ALL THE WAY TO THE GROUND
AND A GRILL LID WAS FLOWN ABOUT 200 YDS NEAR NICOLLET
JR HIGH SCHOOL. MAXIMUM WIND SPEEDS WERE AROUND 80

MPH.

The first area of damage that occurred Saturday night was associated with an EF-0 tornado. This tornado had a broken path length of approximately 2.6 miles from near the intersection of McAndrews Road, and County Road 5, east-northeast to near the intersection of Burnsville Parkway, and County Road 11. The worse damage occurred near Knoll Lane and Nicollet Road, northeast to Nicollet Jr High School. Maximum wind speeds were around 80 mph. Other areas along the path of the tornado were mainly confined to sporadic tree damage and power lines downed.

Twister #2 carved a path just across the Minnesota River from MSP Airport.

...TORNADO 2 /NORTH OF EAGAN/...

START LAT/LON: 44.851, -93.176
END LAT/LON: 44.858, -93.173

START LOCATION: NEAR SKYLINE DRIVE EAST OF HWY 13.
END LOCATION: LOST SPUR GOLF COURSE JUST SOUTH OF I-494.

STRENGTH RATING: EF-0 WITH 75 MPH WINDS.

START TIME: 1105 PM SAT NOV 10
END TIME: 1106 PM SAT NOV 10

PATH LENGTH: 0.5 MILES
PATH WIDTH: 50 YARDS
INJURIES: 0
FATALITIES: 0

NARRATIVE: A BRIEF EF-0 TORNADO SPUN UP NEAR SKYLINE DRIVE EAST OF
HWY 13 AND TRACKED NNE TO THE LOST SPUR GOLF COURSE JUST
SOUTH OF I-494. NUMEROUS TREES WERE BLOWN DOWN AND
EXHIBITED A CONVERGENT DAMAGE PATTERN. SOME TREES FELL
ONTO HOUSES AND POWER LINES. OTHERWISE...LITTLE
STRUCTURAL DAMAGE. ESTIMATED WINDS 75 MPH.

The second & third concentrated area of damage that occurred Saturday night was near Interstate 494, and Highway 13, with a broader area of straight line wind damage from near Dodd Road and Highway 110, northeast to Robert Street and Sidney. Specifically, an EF-0 tornado occurred near Skyline Drive, east of Highway 13, and tracked north-northeast to the eastern part of Lost Spurs Golf Course. Highest winds were 75 mph, with a path length of one-half mile. The damage that occurred in Mendota Heights, Lilydale, and portions of West St. Paul were related to 75 mph straight line winds.

Extensive damage occured along the path of the storms.

The tornadoes appear to be the latest on record in Minnesota since 1950. More from NWS.

TORNADOES IN NOVEMBER ARE EXCEEDINGLY RARE FOR MINNESOTA. SINCE THE MOST COMPLETE TORNADO RECORD DATABASE STARTED IN 1950...ONLY ONE TORNADO OCCURRED IN NOVEMBER...11/1/2000. HOWEVER...THERE IS EVIDENCE OF TWO OTHERS PRIOR TO 1950...ONE ON 11/2/1938 AND ANOTHER ON 11/16/1931.

THE TORNADOES WERE WEAK AND BRIEF DUE TO A LESS THAN FAVORABLE ENVIRONMENT FOR TORNADO FORMATION. WHILE WIND SHEAR WAS STRONG... INSTABILITY WAS VERY LOW MAKING THIS EVENT RATHER ANOMALOUS. WIND SHEAR AND INSTABILITY ARE KEY INGREDIENTS FOR TORNADOES AND SEVERE WEATHER.

THIS DATA IS CONSIDERED PRELIMINARY AND IS SUBJECT TO CHANGE BASED ON ANY NEW INFORMATION GATHERED.

PH

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