Tornado tracks of Minnesota's earliest ever twisters

MINNEAPOLIS (KMSP) - Monday, March 6, 2017 will go down in Minnesota history as the earliest recorded tornadoes in the year on record, beating out the previous record by nearly 2 weeks.   It was a wild day with plenty of wind, warm temperatures, humidity in the air, and then thunderstorms.  The National Weather Service performed their damage surveys and concluded that 2 different tornadoes touched down, at nearly the same time.

The first tornado touched down in Clark’s Grove in southern Minnesota at 5:38pm and was on the ground for a total of 13 minutes traveling just over 12 miles.  That tornado is classified as an EF-1 with peak winds up to 110mph.  Thankfully nobody was injured, but many buildings in the city sustained damage with plenty of tree damage along the way.

The second tornado touched down in Zimmerman, just north of the metro, one minute later at 5:39pm and was on the ground for 16 minutes traveling a total of just under 9 miles.  That tornado is also classified as an EF-1 with peak winds up to 110mph.  Also no injuries reported in this tornado.

These 2 tornadoes were part of a HUGE severe weather outbreak with 47 confirmed tornadoes in 8 states, and more than 700 separate reports of severe weather.  This will go down as one of the largest and furthest north severe weather outbreaks on record in the month of March.