There are only five tornado reports so far for 2006 in Minnesota. Four took place in northwest Minnesota. Two were on May 7. One tornado was spotted by an airplane pilot about 15 miles southeast of Thief River Falls in Polk County and another weak tornado caused some light damage two miles southeast of Macintosh also in Polk County. The third tornado was a weak tornado in Norman County on June 24 that lasted only about 10 to 15 seconds. The fourth was a waterspout over Dead lake in Ottertail County during the evening of June 26th. The fifth tornado was one sighted near Dawson in Lac Qui Parle County on July 27.

The last time there were so few tornadoes reported in Minnesota was back in the pre-Doppler Radar era of 1988. There were only five tornadoes reported that year.

Listed below are the tornado reports so far in 2006 for Minnesota from the National Weather Service.

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE EASTERN ND/GRAND FORKS
216 PM CDT FRI MAY 12 2006

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
           ..REMARKS..
1017 PM     TORNADO          2 NE MENTOR             47.72N 96.11W 
05/07/2006  F0               POLK           MN   AIRPLANE PILOT  
BRIEF TORNADO VIEWED BY PILOT LOCATED ABOUT 15 SE OF THIEF RIVER FALLS. 
 
1140 PM     TORNADO          2 SE MCINTOSH           47.62N 95.85W 
05/07/2006  F1               POLK           MN   NWS STORM SURVEY

TORNADO TRACKED FOR ABOUT ONE HALF MILE OFF NORTH SIDE OF U.S. HIGHWAY 2 UNTIL 1141 PM. 
SEVERAL TREES WERE SNAPPED  OFF AND A FEW SHINGLES WERE TORN OFF A HOUSE. 
ESTIMATED PEAK WINDS OF 80 MPH.


PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT...SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE EASTERN ND/GRAND FORKS
532 PM CDT FRI JUL 07 2006

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
           ..REMARKS..

0527 PM     TORNADO          4 NE TWIN VALLEY        47.30N 96.20W 
06/24/2006  F0               NORMAN             MN   TRAINED SPOTTER
A BRIEF TOUCHDOWN WAS NOTED IN AN OPEN FIELD SOUTH OF            
HIGHWAY 200. NO DAMAGE WAS OBSERVED AND THE TORNADO            
LIFTED AFTER ABOUT 10-15 SECONDS.


PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT...SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE EASTERN ND/GRAND FORKS
929 PM CDT MON JUN 26 2006

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
           ..REMARKS..
       
0803 PM     TORNADO          4 NE AMOR               46.45N 95.69W 
06/26/2006                   OTTER TAIL         MN   LAW ENFORCEMENT 
TORNADO AT DEAD LAKE REPORT OF WATER BEING SUCKED UP.
     

0804 PM     TORNADO          5 NE AMOR               46.46N 95.67W 
06/26/2006                   OTTER TAIL         MN   LAW ENFORCEMENT 


PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT...SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TWIN CITIES/CHANHASSEN MN
823 PM CDT THU JUL 27 2006

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0722 PM     TORNADO          4 W DAWSON              44.93N 96.13W 
07/27/2006                   LAC QUI PARLE      MN   LAW ENFORCEMENT 

            LARGE TORNADO SIGHTED BY BOTH LAW ENFORCEMENT AND CITIZEN
            4 MILES WEST OF DAWSON. LARGE AMOUNT OF CROPS FLATTENED 4
            MILES WEST OF DAWSON AND JUST NORTH OF THAT POINT. 

July 27th Tornado near Dawson Confirmed
...JULY 27 TORNADO CONFIRMED NEAR DAWSON...

DAMAGE TO A GROVE OF TREES...PHOTOS...AND EYEWITNESS ACCOUNTS HAVE
ALL LED TO THE CONCLUSION THAT A TORNADO DID TOUCH DOWN JUST WEST
OF DAWSON THURSDAY EVENING JULY 27.  THE TIME WAS APPROXIMATELY 726
PM.

THE TORNADO TOUCHED DOWN TWO MILES WEST-NORTHWEST OF DAWSON...
CROSSED HIGHWAY 212...AND DISSIPATED ONE AND ONE HALF MILES WEST OF
DAWSON. THE PATH LENGTH WAS ONE HALF MILE...AND ITS MAXIMUM WIDTH WAS
100 FEET. THE TORNADO WILL BE RATED F0.

IN ADDITION TO THE TREE DAMAGE...A FEW SHINGLES AND PLANKS WERE TORN
OFF A BARN...ALONG WITH A LITTLE BIT OF SIDING OFF A HOUSE.

THE STORM WAS ACCOMPANIED BY LARGE HAIL...VERY HEAVY RAIN...AND
DAMAGING DOWNBURST WIND.  THE DOWNBURST WIND WAS IN AN AREA FROM ONE
TO THREE MILES NORTH OF THE TORNADO TRACK...AND SOME FARMS HAD
SCATTERED TREES DOWN...ALONG WITH SHED AND MINOR HOUSE DAMAGE.

FOR SOME AROUND DAWSON...THE HAIL WAS DEVASTATING.  SOME FARMERS
DESCRIBED THAT THEY WERE HIT WITH LARGE HAIL FOR 35 MINUTES...
DECIMATING CROPS.  AT TIMES THE HAIL WAS AS BIG AS GOLF BALLS.
THE HAIL SWATH WAS ABOUT TWO MILES WIDE...FROM JUST SOUTHEAST OF
MADISON...TO THE WEST SIDE OF DAWSON...THEN TO ABOUT FIVE MILES
SOUTHEAST OF DAWSON.

THANKS TO THE MANY TRAINED SPOTTERS WHO WERE WATCHING THE STORM AND
PROVIDED REPORTS...INCLUDING LAW ENFORCEMENT...FIRE DEPARTMENT
VOLUNTEERS...AND HAM RADIO OPERATORS.

THIS WAS THE FIRST TORNADO THIS YEAR IN THE 51 COUNTIES OF
THE CHANHASSEN NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AREA. OF COURSE... THERE
HAD ALREADY BEEN OTHER TORNADOES THIS YEAR ELSEWHERE IN MINNESOTA
AND WISCONSIN.

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URL: http://climate.umn.edu/doc/journal/tornado_drought2006.htm
Last modified: July 28, 2006