Tornado in the Twin Cities?!?!

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    On Sunday, May 22, 2011, North Minneapolis was hit by a devastating half-mile-wide EF1 Tornado with winds between 86-110 mph. Although this tornado was nowhere near as catastrophic as it could have been, it was enough to kill two people, injured 48, and cause tremendous damage to the twin cities area. On its path from St. Louis Park to Blaine, it totaled tens of millions of damage leaving the community with a big clean-up in its wake. Leaving 25,000 homes without power, this tornado was a stark reminder that people living in big cities are just as prone to tornadoes as anyone else. 
   
    2011 was a very rough tornado season. Tornadoes hit big cities such as St. Louis MO, Raleigh NC, and a tornado outbreak in the southeast from April 25-28 with 316 tornado deaths alone on April 27. 

    Living in South Minneapolis at the time, I remember watching the news the next day with my parents and seeing that a tornado actually touched down in the city. I was baffled and in disbelief because I was under the impression that tornadoes don't hit urban areas. Little did I know that I would be adding another fear into my life. Luckily for me and my family, we experienced no property damage and were just fine as we were situated just south of where the tornado first touched down.  The next day I could recall seeing branches and leaves all over the street as well as flipped trash cans throughout the southwest portion of the city. 

Sources

https://www.weather.gov/mpx/22May2011 

https://bringmethenews.com/minnesota-lifestyle/its-been-7-years-since-a-large-tornado-ripped-through-north-minneapolis 

https://www.mprnews.org/story/2011/05/22/minneapolis-storm-folo 




Comments

  1. Karla GarciaApril 9, 2022 at 3:55 PM

    Dear Robert,
    Growing up in the twin cities as well I remember this storm. You got me thinking in your sentence, "people living in big cities are just as prone to tornadoes as anyone else." I wonder if the probability of tornadoes happening in urban areas is just as high as the probability of tornadoes in a rural area. I also wonder what might cause differences in severity of tornadoes. How do human influences impact the probability and severity of tornadoes.

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  2. Anna RunquistApril 27, 2022 at 12:24 PM

    Hey Rob!! I can't believe this tornado wasn't considered as having a higher EF rating because of all the damage it caused to a densely populated area. As someone who also lives in Saint Paul, I never expected a tornado to hit the Twin Cities, let alone Minneapolis. Similar to you, I always considered tornados to be a rural area geohazard only.

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