Tuesday, November 13, 2012
A Mendota Heights resident living near Pickerel Lake said Saturday evening's storm "sounded like an airplane flying through our backyard."
Updated Nov. 14, 10 a.m.: The National Weather Service has confirmed that a tornado touched down in northern Mendota Heights Saturday. The tornado had a path length of about a half mile and landed near Lilydale, between Wachlter and Butler Ave, paralleling Highway 13. --- On Saturday evening Leighton and Dianne Siegel were asleep in their home on the 700 block of Woodridge Drive, by Pickerel Lake, when they were awoken by the thunderstorm that spawned two confirmed tornadoes in Burnsville and Eagan. Leighton Siegel said there was no doubt in his mind that a tornado swept through Mendota Heights. “We were woken up about 11 o’clock, and it sounded like an airplane flying through our backyard,” Siegel said. “I don’t think it could be anything…
Two "EF0" tornadoes touched down in Burnsville and Eagan on Saturday night, with sustained wind speeds between 70 to 80 mph.
The two weak tornadoes that touched down in Burnsville and Eagan spent a combined total of 4 minutes on the ground, and covered a swath of ground that spanned several miles in Dakota County, according to the National Weather Service. On Monday, the weather service released maps of the tracks the tornadoes took through both communities. The tornadoes, which had sustained wind speeds between 70 and 80 mph, were rated "EF0" on the Enhanced Fujita scale. In addition to tornado damage, 75-mph straight-line winds tore a swath through Mendota Heights. Click on the images attached to this article for a look at the storms' paths.
Monday, November 12, 2012
The tornadoes touched down briefly in Burnsville and Eagan on Saturday night, according to the National Weather Service.
A rare November thunderstorm on Saturday night spawned two weak tornadoes, which touched briefly down in Burnsville and Eagan, according to a National Weather Service storm report. The first tornado spun up northeast of the intersection of County Road 5 and McAndrews Road in Burnsville around 10:58 p.m., according to weather service officials. The tornado, an "EF0" on the Fujita scale, had maximum wind speeds of 80 mph. As the storm cell tracked northeast, the tornado blew down numerous trees and power lines and bent a stop sign all the way to the ground, the weather service said. It dissipated just southwest of the intersection of Burnsville Parkway and Hwy. 11. Seven minutes later, another tornado struck near Skyline Drive east of Hwy. …
Zac Farber
1:13 pm on Tuesday, November 13, 2012
It sounds like it was likely a "straight-line wind." It's a pretty interesting weather phenomenon. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Derecho more ›